Ten Amazing Facts About Watermelon You Won’t Believe Are Real

Watermelons are just perfect for the summer. They make great drinks and even better foods, but what they also make is interesting reading. These are ten of the most interesting facts I could find about watermelons and some of them are simply unbelievable…

FACT 1: A Watermelon Is Classed as a Vegetable!

While it is obviously a fruit due to the fruit containing seeds, but it is also part of the botanical family of gourds which includes many vegetables like pumpkins and cucumbers.

FACT 2: You Can Eat Every Last Bit of a Watermelon!

While most people will only eat the inner flesh of watermelon you can eat the outside of it as well. In fact, it’s pretty tasty and has some surprising health benefits thanks to the rind being full of nutrients.

FACT 3: A Watermelon Really is Mostly Water!

In fact, it is 92% water. So what is the rest made up of? Well, 6% of the 8% that is not water is little more than natural sugar! So that only leaves 2% for the rest of the plant itself.

FACT 4: Watermelons Come in a Variety of Colours!

While most people will consume the normal green coloured watermelons they do come in a number of colours from red to orange, white to black!

FACT 5: Lots of Watermelons Grown From a Single Plant

You might think it is one watermelon per plant, but that is not true. In fact, the most watermelons recorded growing from a single plant is 131!

FACT 6: The Worlds Most Expensive Watermelon Cost £5,827!

For everyone else that is CNY 51,000/$7,489/€6,442 and was achieved by Inner Mongolia Green State Fertilizer Co., Ltd. (China) in Kerchin, Inner Mongolia, China, on 26 August 2018.

FACT 7: The Worlds Heaviest Watermelon Weighed 159 kg (350.5 lb)

It was grown by Chris Kent from the US on the 4th of October 2013. The man himself has always grown winning fruits before, but never one this big.

FACT 8: There Are Well Over 1200 Varieties of Watermelon!

Some of these are as small as a grape, others are the largest variety and can weigh more than 90 kilograms (200 lb)! Carolina Cross, Golden Midget, Moon and Stars, Melitopolski and Densuke to name just a few of them.

FACT 9: Watermelon Growing is Also an Art Form!

Not content with growing most of the worlds consumable watermelons farmers of Japan also grow them in strange and unusual shapes. From cubes to shapes that resemble Buddha himself!

FACT 10: Watermelons are Better For you Than Tomatoes!

This is down to a powerful carotenoid antioxidant called “Lycopene” and watermelons contain a much more concentrated source of it when compared to tomatoes. In fact, it is 1.5X more concentrated!