Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The watermelon – sweet juicy, veggie-fruit, widely believed to be first harvested some 5,000 years ago in Egypt – has remained a low-cost summer staple for centuries in the sub-continent.

Though it is still an affordable family feast, it could not attain that much admiration and significance it earns in some other countries. The most prestigious places this overgrown produce reaps are America, Japan and Oklahoma.

It is Oklahoma’s official state vegetable, whereas Americans every year on August 3 celebrate National Watermelon Day, marked as a holiday festivity. Japanese, unofficially giving it greater recognition, annually dedicate a day as World Watermelon Day. Japanese have another hallmark achievement of developing square watermelons for the ease to shelve them in refrigerators and racks.

Knowingly declared as a vegetable-fruit, it has another distinctive feature for rarely being cooked like a curry in traditional cooking vessel. “It would be funny experience to cook this item in a pip-kin on fire with added hot Asian spices. Not sure what will be an outcome but it will be a fun for the eaters,” said Chief Chef Shahid Khan at the Gun & Country Club, when asked did he ever cook watermelon. He termed it impractical to deal it like a vegetable for being so watery and sweetie in nature.

Agri expert and Director Farms Planning at the National Agricultural Research Centre Shamim ul Sibtain said the watermelon plant’s drought-tolerant ability ensures its maximum growth rate as it loves heat and needs a long and warm growing season of at least 70 to 85 days. He said country’s most tasty variety is produced in Thal’s hot and sandy soil where day time temperature touches 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit in which most of the species of other plants do not survive. “This veggie-fruit not only endures this hot and humid climate but also drags and soaks over 92 per cent of water with no competitor on earth,” he added.

Called a ‘fruit of angels’ by Mark Twain, its different varieties across the globe have some very fascinating names reflecting public infatuation with this fruit. Among them a few are: Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts, Millionaire, Crimson, Trio, Nova, Desert King, Tendergold, Yellow Baby, Yellow Doll and Black Diamond.

School Health and Nutrition Supervisor Imrozia Waheed, while sharing some nutritionist values of this summer specialty, said it contains rich vitamins, minerals, potassium, magnesium and anti-oxidants. Vitamin deficiency is the biggest challenge for children and women of third world countries today and the World Health Organization was striving hard to overcome it. She said this fruit in our country is in abundance and an effective natural food to fight this deficiency in the human body. She said it is a blessing at a time when sweating dehydrates body and it acts as a great anti-hydration agent. She also recommended watermelon’s consecutive usage for kidney, liver and abdominal health.

Imrozia said scientists with over the years’ research have managed to discover that this magical diet is a divine sanction for cardiovascular health for being rich in vitamins and minerals and low in calories. The medical scientists also discovered that watermelon is among the best dietary sources of lycopene, an antioxidant linked to both prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.

A 85-year-old practicing doctor, Ghulam Hussain, said it would be unbelievably interesting for our younger generations born after 80s that the fruit remained a must item in annual urs and lok melas (religious and cultural festivals) celebrated across the country. No devotee or visitor was supposed to get back home without a melon in his hands, he said, adding that it was kept for hours in water well with a special net pocket, entangled with a rope to make it a cool family treat due to absence of refrigerators.

According to Guinness World Records, the world’s heaviest watermelon was grown by Chris Kent of Sevierville, Tennessee in 2013, weighing at 350.5 lbs.

According to reported statistics, China is the leading watermelon producer with 66% share followed by Iran and Turkey.

Published in Daily Times, June 4^th 2018.