Watermelon
Crop Information
Introduction
- by Todd C. Wehner
- Department of Horticultural Science
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh, NC 27695-7609
Watermelon is Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum.
& Nakai, formerly C. vulgaris. Commercial cultivars
are classified as C. lanatus var. lanatus,
and wild accessions are C. lanatus var. citroides.
It has been cultivated for thousands of years, as indicated
by the fact that it has a name in Sanskrit. Watermelon is
grown throughout the world as a staple food (edible seeds),
a dessert food (edible flesh), and for animal feed. Although
it is primarily eaten fresh, it is also eaten as a cooked
vegetable in Africa. In Russia, watermelon is a staple food,
eaten pickled and used for production of syrup by boiling
the sugary flesh. In China, firm-fleshed cultivars are cut
into strips and dried for use as pickles or glace' candy.
Watermelon has been cultivated in Africa and the Middle
East for thousands of years (at least 4000 in Egypt). It
has been cultivated in China since at least 900 AD. Watermelon
was brought to the New World in the 1500s. In the U.S.,
watermelon is a major vegetable crop that is grown primarily
in the southern states. The total area under production
in the U.S. in 1998 was 75,629 ha, with a total production
of 36,731 Mg and a value of $284 million. The U.S. average
yield in 1998 was 0.487 Mg/ha, with a range from 0.92 Mg/ha
(California) to 0.14 Mg/ha (Mississippi). The major watermelon
producing states in the U.S. are Florida, California, Texas,
Georgia, and Arizona (USDA
Agricultural Statistics, 1999).
Watermelon has been improved by domestication and formal
plant breeding from a late maturing vine with small fruit
having hard, white flesh and bland or bitter taste, into
an early maturing, more compact plant with large fruit having
edible, sweet flesh. In the last century, plant breeders
working in public or private programs in the United States
and around the world have released varieties having disease
resistance, dwarf vines, larger fruit, higher sugar content,
higher lycopene content, seedlessness, and new flesh colors,
such as dark red, orange, and yellow. Recent advances in
the breeding of seedless triploid hybrids have resulted
in renewed popularity of watermelons, and per capita consumption
has increased 37% since 1980.
