Watermelon: Health Benefits, Properties and How to Pick the Best One This Season

Few fruits capture summer quite like watermelon. Sweet, juicy, and packed with water, it has become the season's star fruit and a true ally against the heat. But watermelon is more than just hydration: its nutritional properties, its dozens of varieties, and a handful of simple tricks for choosing and storing it are what separate a mediocre watermelon from a perfect one.

Origin and Production of Watermelon

Watermelon cultivation dates back to Egypt, where it first grew along the banks of the Nile before spreading across the Mediterranean basin through the Israelites. Over time it became a fruit closely tied to warm and temperate climates. Today, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, China, and Japan are among the leading producing countries.

Watermelon has a hard, smooth rind between 2 and 4 centimeters thick, in shades ranging from dark green to yellowish green. Inside, the flesh can be red, pink, or yellow, and typically contains black, brown, or white seeds. It's also one of the largest fruits available: most watermelons weigh between 3 and 8 kilos, though some can exceed 10-15 kilos. In Spain, the growing season runs from June to September.

The Most Popular Watermelon Varieties

There are more than fifty watermelon varieties, distinguished by shape, flesh and rind color, weight, and ripening period. Here are some of the most widely consumed in Spain.

Seeded Varieties

• Sugar Baby (Italy, Greece, and Spain): dark green rind and slightly pink flesh, with a very high water content.
• Crimson Sweet (Almería): very sweet, with a fairly dark rind and deep red flesh.
• Resistent (Valencia): similar to Crimson Sweet, known for its hardiness and sweet flavor.

Seedless Varieties

• Reina de Corazones (Almería): light, bright green rind with dark stripes; deep red, very sweet and juicy flesh.
• Fashion (Mediterranean coast): closely resembles traditional watermelon, with a dark green rind, slightly pink flesh, and good keeping quality.

Nutritional Properties of Watermelon

Watermelon's composition makes it the perfect summer fruit: around 93% of its weight is water, which explains its exceptional hydrating power. It also provides lycopene, the antioxidant responsible for its characteristic pink or red color.

Its carbohydrate content is very low, making it suitable for people with diabetes, and since it's practically fat-free, it combines a strong satiating effect with very few calories.

Culinary Uses: Beyond Eating It on Its Own

Versatility is another of its strengths. It can be eaten on its own, in fruit salad, before or after meals, or added to salads, sorbets, juices, and ice cream.

The seeds are edible too: in several Asian countries they're eaten as a snack, roasted or fried, and are even used to make bread.

How to Pick a Ripe Watermelon

Spotting a good watermelon is easier than it seems if you know what to look for:

• The yellow spot: look for a creamy yellow patch on the rind; it marks the spot where the fruit rested on the ground while ripening.
• The hollow sound: when you tap it lightly with your fingers, it should sound "hollow."
• The fingernail test: on dark green watermelons, it should be easy to scratch the rind with a fingernail.

If you're buying a half watermelon, check that the flesh looks firm and juicy, with no dry or discolored patches.

How to Store Watermelon

Thanks to its thick rind, a whole watermelon keeps perfectly well for two to three weeks at room temperature, in a cool, dry place.

Once cut, it should be eaten as soon as possible so it doesn't lose flavor or nutrients. Store it in the refrigerator, but in the least cold section, since watermelon is sensitive to very low temperatures — it's best not to go below 7-10 ºC (44-50 ºF).

The information comes from: La sandía es mucho más que agua, la aliada perfecta para tu salud este verano