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Knowing the nationwide love for watermelons, every year there are always people trying to make money on it using dishonest or illegal methods. Most of these techniques are aimed at obtaining the most early and abundant harvest. As a result, traders and producers of agricultural products win twice, because:
- manage to realize watermelons when the bulk of the crop ripens in the beds;
- receiving additional income artificially gained weight of the fruit.
The only one who loses is the unfortunate consumer who succumbed to temptation and bought a completely useless, not always tasty, and sometimes very dangerous watermelon. Indeed, in pursuit of profit, unclean melon growers, and then traders, have to go to agrotechnical violations, flood crops with chemicals, use seeds of dubious quality, and, without observing the terms and conditions for storing fruits, offer deliberately damaged watermelons.
The problem is complicated by the fact that buying a whole fruit, people cut it only by serving it, and only here they can see:
- coarse yellow and white streaks in a watermelon;
- undeveloped areas of flesh and fissures, dividing it into several parts;
- sluggish, fleshy friable inside watermelon;
- uneven color;
- signs of fermentation.
And sometimes red sugar watermelon, instead of being sweet, is desperately bitter. Why is this happening? What to do with such a watermelon and what do the white and yellow streaks in the flesh mean?
Where are the white and yellow streaks in the watermelon?
The main and most common cause of watermelon poisoning is the use of excess nitrogen fertilizers when growing.
Under normal conditions, nitrogen is an indispensable element for plant growth and development, however, using it in excess of acceptable norms, melon growers can get a fruit weighing up to 10 kg in 2-3 weeks. After abundant watering and fertilizing with a solution of nitrate, watermelons swell like yeast, and instead of the set 70–90 days of staying on a melon-vine under the sun, they gather almost a month earlier. The producer receives an early harvest of huge fruits, only a large portion of nitrates poisonous for humans has already accumulated in each of them.
One of the signs of "poisoning" of melon nitrate is the pulping white and yellow streaks in the watermelon. They are formed by the action of the chemical, forcing not only the lash to grow faster, but also the fetus. At first, these peculiar vessels have white color and supply nutrition to the immature watermelon, but under the influence of nitrates the fruit grows quickly and also grows old soon. Therefore, the white streaks in the watermelon soon become rough and become yellow or brownish.
High doses of nitrates and nitrites synthesized from them in the body can accumulate and increase the negative effect. Exposure to nitrogen compounds affects the digestive system, disrupts metabolic processes and inhibits the nervous system. As a result of nitrites entering the body, the supply of tissues with oxygen deteriorates and the immune system is destroyed.
If an adult tolerates a dose of 150–200 mg relatively painlessly, then 600 mg of nitrates cause irreparable damage. But nitrogenous compounds cause the greatest damage to young children, for whom a dose of 10 mg is toxic.
Why does the watermelon have loose flesh inside?
It is interesting that the process caused by nitrates continues after collecting such a "chemical" crop. True, the watermelon is no longer growing, but the tissue inside it is changing. Even when it is torn green, it soon turns red, and the white vessels gradually turn yellow. A couple of weeks after harvesting, the flesh inside the watermelon is loose, crumbling and weak.
Asking the question: “Why is the watermelon inside loose and not at all tasty?”, The buyer may come across a fruit that has been stored for a long time and incorrectly. A couple of weeks in the scorching sun is enough for a watermelon to be torn off from the whip to begin to lose moisture, and its flesh looks like dry, reddish or whitish grains. As a rule, this process starts from the location of the seed, and then spreads to the core.
Why is watermelon bitter?
If the coarse fibers in the pulp, changes in its color and structure, talking about the poor quality of watermelon, it is easy to see, as soon as it is cut, then the bitter fruit will have to be tried at least once.
Why is watermelon bitter, famous for its sweetness? There are several possible answers. Most often, buyers have to deal with the already lying fruits, which due to natural causes or due to the effects of nitrates have lost their original taste properties.
Thanks to the saltpeter, which has fallen into the ovary, it is rapidly developing, reaching a weight of 10–20 kg. Then the unscrupulous melon growers leave the watermelons to rest for a few more days, during which the fruits turn red, but, alas, they do not gain proper sweetness. As a result, the accumulated 5–6% of fructose and glucose are converted into sucrose, and soon the flesh starts to turn sour, changing the taste to sour-bitter.
In addition, if an unripe fruit pumped with nitrates was purchased, it is possible that cucurbitacin, a substance guilty of the bitterness of cucumbers and momordica, is to blame for its unpleasant taste. In ripe watermelons it contains an insignificant amount, but in greens, causing stomach pain and indigestion of the natural toxin, much more. This explains why watermelon is bitter in the summer.
If you wanted to eat a sweet slice in winter, then ethylene gas can be the culprit for an unpleasant taste, which can be used for better storage of fruits grown in Thailand or Turkey.
In any case, if a watermelon, loose inside, with coarse fibers or having a specific taste, got on the table, it should be abandoned.
