This season, Texas watermelons are top quality and prices are lower for shoppers. So now is a good time to take pleasure in this refreshing, wholesome fruit. An skilled shares how watermelon sweetness is measured and how one can spot one of the best one on the retailer or farmers market.
Sweetness that’s off the charts
Watermelon sweetness is measured utilizing the Brix scale, which signifies the sugar content material. On this scale, 10 is taken into account normal, whereas 11-12 means a melon is further candy.
This 12 months, Juan Anciso, Ph.D., a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service vegetable specialist, Weslaco, and affiliate head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences within the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, stated Texas watermelon producers are reporting distinctive high quality and persistently discovering fruit with 11 Brix.
Listed below are three suggestions from Anciso to decide on one of the best contemporary watermelon.
Tip 1: Discover the yellow stomach, or the sphere spot
Aside from slicing open a watermelon to see the within, the sphere spot could also be one of the best signal of ripeness. This spot reveals the place a melon was mendacity on the bottom whereas hooked up to the vine.
If the watermelon is ripe, the sphere spot needs to be a big yellow patch on one aspect. The colour needs to be a creamy, nearly butter-like yellow. The larger the yellow stomach and the creamier the colour, the extra time the melon ripened on the vine. Nonetheless, if the spot is small or seems extra white than yellow, the melon is probably not ripe.
Subject spots on watermelons needs to be a creamy, nearly buttery yellow coloration and the bigger the higher when on the lookout for a ripe watermelon. (Michael Miller/Texas A&M AgriLife)
Tip 2: Faucet the underbelly and pay attention for a deep sound
One other technique to discover a ripe watermelon is to knock on the skin together with your knuckles gently. A ripe melon can have a deeper sound, versus an overripe one. A hole thud, paired with an outsized yellow spot, signifies a melon could also be mealy and overripe.
Tip 3: Search for a boring coloration and heavy watermelon
Though they is probably not the prettiest or the best to hold to your automotive, one of the best watermelons are boring in coloration and heavy.
A shiny melon means the insides are underripe. Additionally, one of the best melon of the bunch will more than likely be the heaviest one. A heavier melon probably holds extra water. On common, a watermelon is 92% water, which is what makes it so juicy.
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