Tsamma Melon: The Essence of Summertime
The Most Thirst-Quenching of All Fruits?

By Uncle Paul

Today we travel not only back in time, but we will need the help of young Scotsman on our journey to find the origin of a most incredible fruit.

It’s 1850 and we are traveling by boat to the farthest tip of Africa. Dazzling tiny flying fish will dart like little rainbows in the water ahead of our vessel as it heads south. Dolphins, the clowns of the sea, will keep us amused, leaping and turning somersaults over the waves two or three abreast in front of our ship.

We dock in Cape Town and are greeted by David Livingstone. He was the first white explorer to see the interior of Africa, discovering Angel Falls. We will travel by ox cart and witness elephants traveling in groups of more than 800. We will see the smoke rise from a thousand villages. And at night we will hear the lions roar within a few feet of our camp.

But it is not to the interior of Africa we travel, or to the Northern Sahara desert and the pyramids, even though it is where we would find the 5000-year-old evidence of this great fruit in the tombs of the pharaohs. No, it is into the southern Kalahari Desert we travel, where Livingstone will show us large tracts of desert literally covered with the only evidence of watermelon found in the wild on earth, known as the tsamma melon. Single vines will carry more than 100 melons.

From Egypt, watermelons spread throughout the countries along the Mediterranean Sea by way of merchant ships. By the 10th century, watermelons found their way into China, which is now one of the world’s major producers of the crop. The 13th century found watermelons spreading throughout the rest of Europe via the Moors. A wide range of sizes and shapes, rind, seed, and flesh colors were described by European botanists of the 16th and 17th centuries.

There are more than 1200 varieties of watermelon including yellow, white, and orange, as well as red flesh, some having speckled, white, red, brown, green, and black seeds.

In America the watermelon is used almost entirely as a dessert, to be eaten fresh and cold. In southern Russia a beer is made from the juice of the watermelon. In Iraq, Egypt, and elsewhere in Africa, the flesh of the melon is used as a staple food and animal feed as well as a source of water in some
dry districts.

In the Old World, particularly Asia, the seeds are roasted, with or without salting, and eaten from the hand; more watermelon seeds are eaten there than sunflower seeds.

In 1938 seedless watermelons were created by cross-pollinating two varieties of watermelon together. It took scientists and growers working together for about 10 years to come up with the biggest little thing in watermelons today: The tiny personal-sized watermelon named Pure Heart. It is sweet, from its very core right out to the edge of the rind, and one of my favorites. Yellow watermelon is beautiful and sweet but the orange variety seems a little less sweet.

Watermelon is not just an incredible treat, but it actually cools the body in a hot climate. It is also excellent for flushing out the kidney and bladder. On average, a watermelon is 92% water and 8% natural sugar. A one-cup serving of diced watermelon has no fat, lots of vitamins and minerals, and about 49 calories. It is rich in beta-carotene, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin B5 and smaller amounts of B1, B2, B3, and B6. It is a rich source of essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium, and smaller amounts of copper, iron, and zinc.

Watermelon is loaded with more lycopene than a tomato. This important anti-oxidant is powerful in neutralizing harmful free radicals in the body. It is very efficient in promoting intestinal elimination, keeping the body free from toxic wastes. The alkalinizing effect maintains the acid-alkaline balance in the body, neutralizing the toxic condition of the body resulting from excessive intake of acid-forming foods. Its juice digests very easily and completely absorbs all its minerals, providing much needed nutrients to the body. The health effects of watermelon juice are immense because of the rich anti-oxidant and beta-carotene it contains. The rich beta-carotene and high vitamin C content help in quenching inflammation that contributes to conditions like osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Watermelon juice is also healthful in preventing cholesterol from clogging arteries and can increase HDL, the good cholesterol, reducing the risks of cardiovascular diseases.

So next time you pull the old ox cart out of the garage and take it for a Sunday spin, make sure you take along Mother Nature’s thermos to help you survive the heat of the day: the incredibly sweet and refreshing watermelon

Uncle Paul, along with his wife Calla, owns Uncle Paul’s European Style Open Air Produce Market, 2310 SE Hawthorne, 503-484-8612 or visit www.unclepaulsproduce.com