2023-07-12 08:28:52
Published12. Jul 2023, 10:28 am
Four tips: Fancy a watermelon? That way you can tell if it’s already ripe and sweet
Beat? Smell? Shake? Or just a look? With these tricks you can easily find out whether the watermelon is ripe.
von1 / 14
Nobody fools you when it comes to watermelons? Then here are some watermelon facts that you might not know.
IMAGO/ITAR-TASS/ Sipa USA
1. Watermelons are traded as fruit in this country. Strictly speaking, however, this is not correct: botanically, watermelons, like all other melons, belong to the pumpkin family and are therefore vegetables.
imago images/Steffen Schellhorn
2. Watermelons live up to their name: They consist of 95 percent water and are therefore the perfect summer thirst quencher! Only a cucumber has a higher water content. This is around 97 percent.
Unsplash
Watermelons are healthy and delicious – provided they are ripe. But especially when you buy them whole, this is not always easy to recognize. So what to do? With the following tips, you will only pick out the ripe fruit in the future.
Tip 1: Knock
In the summer, this is a common sight in fruit and vegetable departments: people tapping watermelons with their knuckles. That makes sense, according to melon experts, because you can hear the ripeness. It sounds dark and hollow.
Tapping is a good idea in the Watermelon Trial.
IMAGO/Martin Wagner
Tip 2: Get it vibrating
It is much less common to see people slapping the melon lightly with the palm of their hand. What seems strange at first can actually provide information regarding the degree of maturity, says Ulrike Bickelmann from the German Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE) to the DPA news agency: “If it vibrates, then it’s just right.” If there are no vibrations, the melon is soft and fluffy on the inside – in short: not so fine.
A slap on the melon sets it vibrating – that can influence the decision to buy.
IMAGO/SNA
Tip 3: Look
A look at the fruit, more precisely at the so-called contact spot, also helps. Because that only happens when the melon has ripened in the field. The yellower the spot, the more mature it is. On the other hand, if the spot is rather light gray, the melon is not ripe. But be careful: the spot must not be too yellow, because then the fruit is overripe.
The shape of the melon also gives an indication of the condition of the melon: it should be as symmetrical as possible. If it is rather misshapen and has dents, this indicates that the melon was watered or gotten the sun.
The contact patch should be neither gray nor too dark.
IMAGO/Kick USA
Tip 4: Watch your weight
The bigger the better: This does not apply to watermelons. The only important thing is that the melon feels heavy in relation to its size. A comparison with other melons helps here: Ripe watermelons weigh more than their unripe counterparts of the same size.
The weight of the melon also reveals a lot.
image/Westend61
Bonus-Tipp
The watermelon stalk isn’t always there. But once it’s there, it’s worth taking a closer look: if it’s dried out and no longer appears green and fresh, the melon was harvested when ripe.
The condition of the stem – or the part that can still be seen – also tells a lot regarding the inside of the watermelon.
IMAGO/imagebroker
By the way, watermelons didn’t always look the way they do today. Its distinctive red flesh is the result of breeding. We show you the original look of the tropical fruit here. You can find more exciting facts regarding the fruit in the photo gallery above.
knowledge push
Subscribe to the knowledge channel notifications in the 20-minute app. You will be informed regarding groundbreaking findings and discoveries from research, explanations of current events and curious news from the wide world of science. You will also receive answers to everyday questions and tips for a better life.
Here’s how: Install the latest version of the 20-minute app. Tap on the settings menu in the top right (three lines with a circle), then «Settings» and finally on «Push notifications». Select the desired topics and then click «Next». If desired, select a region and click «Next». Under “Topics” you can now select “Knowledge”. Click «Confirm» and you’re in!
Don’t miss any more news
With the daily update you stay informed regarding your favorite topics and don’t miss any more news regarding current world events.
Receive the most important information directly in your mailbox every day.
1689157886
#tips #watermelon #ripe #sweet
