Origin of watermelon

La watermelon, without a doubt, one of the tastiest and most delicious fruits of the summer. With it, we can not only quench our thirst by having a large amount of water, but it can also be used to make drinks and even ice cream. Today it is so popular, so "ours", that it is already difficult to find someone who knows why we can enjoy this delicious fruit. And it is not for less since several thousand years ago it began to be cultivated.

In fact, the first traces of its cultivation date back to 3000 BC, and were found in an incredible place: Egypt. But, What is the true origin of watermelon?

Origin of watermelon

It is very difficult to find the primitive origin of this plant. It is known that it began to be cultivated about 5000 years ago in the northwest of the African continent, but nothing more. But where did those watermelons come from? Who were your parents and where did they come from? It is not known. It is so complicated that botanists cannot agree.

And, since nobody agrees, there are theories for all tastes. For experts, there are only three possible candidates:

• Citron melon: It is a plant that began to be cultivated around 4000 years ago in North Africa. Many researchers doubt that this is the most direct ancestor, since at that time agriculture had not yet been invented in southern Africa.
• Melon egusi: originally from West Africa. It is also in doubt, since it is not grown for its pulp but for its seeds, just the opposite of modern watermelons.
• Citrullus lanatus var. colocynthoides: It grows in northwest Africa, and is the one that most likely gave rise to the watermelons that we can enjoy today.

The ancient Egyptians, the experts in the cultivation of watermelon

Despite living in a country where rainfall is very scarce, they have the Nile River, which allowed them to grow a wide variety of plants, such as corn and of course our protagonist, the watermelon. It must have seemed like an incredible fruit to them, not so much for its flavor, which at that time was bitter, nor for its rind, which was so hard that they had to crush it to eat it, but for its water, a liquid that acquires great value when you live near the desert.

This is how they started to grow them, and surely the first thing they did was improve the flavor, which must have been very easy, since This characteristic is determined by a single dominant gene, so by resorting to selective reproduction they had to eliminate it in a short time.

Soon after, producers began selecting other characteristics. They wanted to get a fruit that could be served fresh, so eventually they got some watermelons that were soft enough to cut and eat, which was an important step in the history of this delicious fruit.

The watermelon, ready to invade the world

Although the rind was still a bit hard, the watermelon gradually began to invade other places. Around 400 a. C., went from being only in the northwest of the African continent, to spread throughout the Mediterranean countries, such as Greece, where doctors like Hippocrates prescribed it as a diuretic, Rome, where it was considered an extremely refreshing drink, or Israel, where texts on tithing were found that explained that farmers did not have to stack them, but rather store them individually, which suggests that they were already growing modern watermelons, that is, water melons with fragile rind.

Another interesting point is that a treatise written in Hebrew was found around AD 200. C. in which the watermelons of the tithe were placed in the same category of the figs, the grapes and the pomegranates. Why? Because they are all sweet. Indeed: the cultivation of watermelon had evolved to such an extent that farmers had been able to turn an apparently unappetizing fruit into one of the most appreciated and loved foods by all, and not just for those who lived in deserts.

It's certain that by that time, watermelon was already in orchards throughout the Mediterranean region. But there was still a long way to go, and the watermelon story continued to spread throughout the world. Types of watermelon They began to diversify, further enriching their cultural and gastronomic legacy.

Improving its flavor ... even more

The common watermelon is the red one, but Did you know that there are also yellow pulp? By 424 d. C., already existed. This has a simple explanation, and it is as follows: the gene for the color red is paired with the one that determines the sugar content; thus, as its flavor became sweeter, the color also changed, turning more and more yellow.

We love watermelon. We grow it in our gardens, and we enjoy its flavor and texture. Today, after 5000 years of selective breeding, we've managed to obtain an exquisite fruit. So if you'd like to learn more about its cultivation, visit our guide on how to plant watermelons and enjoy this fruit at home.