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Where to choose the right watermelon?
Even good watermelon can become harmful due to improper storage conditions, transportation or trade violations. And it is worth fearing, first of all, roadside watermelon collapses: here they often offer goods rejected by trade and sanitary inspectors.
Official places of sale of melons are never located near the tracks, they are always fenced off, and the seller has all the necessary documents – a medical book, a trade permit, a certificate or declaration of conformity of the goods being sold to the requirements of the standard, a quality certificate issued by the organization that raised the watermelons.
The correct watermelon, what is it?
Never buy a watermelon with a damaged rind. And by no means let the seller cut a piece out of your watermelon to showcase its taste and quality. The fact is that bacteria multiply much faster on the sweet and heated surface of the damaged or cut fruit. A small “wound” on the skin of a watermelon is enough for it to cause gastrointestinal upset.
How to choose a nitrate-free watermelon?
Good watermelon – it is not only tasty, but also healthy. To get juicy and early ripening fruits, plants are often overfed with fertilizers, mainly nitric acid salts – nitrates, which, when ingested, are converted into nitrites hazardous to health. Moreover, in different parts of the watermelon, nitrates accumulate unevenly; most of them are contained in the flesh near the peel (about 3 cm thick).
How to choose perfect watermelon and to distinguish it from nitrate? Unfortunately, in appearance it is difficult to do this; it is possible to accurately determine the presence of nitrates only by a laboratory method. Having cut the watermelon, you can try to “calculate” the nitrates visually.
- In nitrate watermelon, the flesh is intensely red with a slight purple tint. And the fibers that go from the core to the crust are not white, like in “normal” watermelons, but yellowish.
- If you grind a piece of watermelon in a glass of water, it should just become cloudy; if it turns red or pinkish – in front of you is a fetus overfed with nitrates.
- Having cut the watermelon, take a look at the cut: the “harmful” cut surface is smooth, the good watermelon – grainy.
How to choose a ripe watermelon?
Appearance will tell a lot. Good, ripe watermelons have a bright and contrasting skin color, and the skin itself is firm and shiny. If the nail easily pierces it, it means that the watermelon is immature.
Ripe watermelon – it is almost always juicy and sweet. You don’t need to chase the giants, but you shouldn’t choose the smallest ones either. From the fruits of one variety and one batch, choose a rather large and at the same time light – weight is the first sign of the ripeness of a watermelon. By the way, thanks to the light pulp, a ripe watermelon floats in the water, and an unripe one sinks.
Another sign of the ripeness of a watermelon is a dry tail. When the fruit ripens, the green whip that connects it to the plant dries up. Therefore, the “tendril” and the peduncle at ripe watermelonand dry. If the tail is dry, but green, then the fruit was picked unripe, such a watermelon is unlikely to be sweet.
Light spot on the side of good watermelon should be deep yellow or orange. The flanks of immatures are usually white.
You can also choose a watermelon by sound. If you knock on a ripe watermelon, you can hear not a deaf, but a clear, clear, resonating sound from within. And putting the ripe fruit to your ear and squeezing it with your hands with all your might, you will hear a characteristic quiet crackle.
How to choose a watermelon girl?
Watermelons are conventionally divided into “boys” and “girls”. The “boy” has a convex bottom on the opposite side of the tail, and a small circle on it. Have watermelons – “girls” the bottom is flatter, and the circle is wide. Many people think that the latter are tastier. One can argue about this, everyone has different tastes. But the fact that there are fewer seeds in the “girls” watermelons and they are sweeter is absolutely certain.