The tour guide warned us:
When it comes to watermelon, no one should dislike it! In the hot summer, if you come to a few pieces of iced watermelon, you can't be too happy! If you go to the desert for a trip, a long journey, a thirst, and see a large piece of watermelon in front of you, it is like grasping the straw that saves your life. Before understanding it, it is estimated that many people will resist the temptation to pick it and eat it.
Below I will introduce this desert "watermelon" in detail:
Why can "watermelons" grow in the desert?
Many people should be very curious, why can watermelons grow in arid and water-scarce deserts?
In fact, this is mainly due to the existence of a variety of creatures in the desert, the temperature is high during the day, these creatures hide underground, and at night when the temperature drops, they will come out to feed. In the process of their activity, they produce all kinds of feces and saliva, bringing moisture and nutrients to the surface, and watermelon seeds containing water will grow. After the melon seedlings grow, they gradually grow up by relying on the feces and other nutrients of various animals.
Just like cacti and shuttle trees can grow in the desert, there are no wonders in the world, and existence is reasonable.
Why does no one dare to eat the "watermelon" everywhere in the desert?
In fact, watermelons in the desert are not the watermelons we can eat in reality. The watermelon we usually eat is relatively large, the skin is green or dark green, the texture is clear, the melon inside is red or bright red, the flesh is full and juicy, fresh and sweet.
And this watermelon in the desert, it looks very similar to watermelon, it can be said to be a twin brother! Its scientific name is "medicinal watermelon", "medicinal gourd", is a one- or two-year vine poisonous plant, mainly distributed in the Mediterranean, America and other places.
It belongs to a kind of bitter melon fruit, shaped like a balloon, 3-10 cm in diameter, and the skin color is generally yellow, pale yellow, and milky white. The melon inside is white, and the flesh resembles a sponge filling, so it has no weight to lift.
If you encounter this watermelon in the desert, you can tell it by looking directly at its skin and volume.
Why doesn't anyone dare to eat these desert watermelons? There are several reasons for this:
1. Desert "watermelon" contains high toxicity
It is said that "there must be a demon when things go wrong", and if you can survive in this harsh environment, you must have two brushes! Otherwise, it would have been eaten by other animals a long time ago, and it would have been able to reproduce for thousands of years!
As we mentioned earlier, this desert "watermelon" contains a grade 5 toxin, which is 5 times more toxic than a poisonous scorpion. What is this concept? We generally classify toxicity as level 6, first-level toxicity is called micro-toxicity, sixth-level toxicity is called severe toxicity, and the fifth-level toxin of desert "watermelon" can be imagined how terrible it is?
This desert watermelon is not only poisonous flesh, it is all over the body, rhizomes, melon vines, epidermis, pulp, and even melon seeds are poisonous, if you accidentally touch a part of it, light skin itching, heavy epidermis ulceration. If you eat its pulp by mistake, it can be dizzy, headache, diarrhea, or kidney failure or even death.
There have been tourists who did not listen to the advice of the tour guide and accidentally ate desert watermelon and died of poisoning. In such a deserted place as the desert, there is no medical equipment, and it is far from the hospital, even if the poisoning is difficult to treat.
2, desert "watermelon" taste bitter and no moisture
Secondly, desert watermelon belongs to the gourd family, which contains a lot of cucurbitacin, the taste is very bitter, eating it is similar to eating raw bitter melon or unripe grapefruit at home, it is difficult to swallow, and even smell its taste and do not want to eat.
In addition, it grows in an arid and water-scarce desert, and the flesh retains very little water, and it cannot quench its thirst after eating.
Why does the desert "watermelon" contain high poison?
1. The protective shell formed by itself
In the harsh environment of the desert, if you want to be eaten by other herbivores, you must have real skills. The ability of this desert watermelon is to form toxins, in its thousands of years of evolution, in order to adapt to the environment, the survival of the fittest, it gradually forms toxins in the body and outside the body, so that other organisms dare not approach it.
2. Toxins left over from other organisms
There are all kinds of creatures in the desert, they are highly toxic, when they come out to forage at night, they will leave various toxins and saliva in the melon vine and watermelon skin, for watermelon, this is a nutrient, so it will be all absorbed, over the years, desert watermelon will form a new toxin in the body, which will aggravate its toxicity.
The value of desert "watermelon"
The desert "watermelon" is so terrible, why are there many people planting it in large areas?
We all know that "it is a three-point poison of medicine", commonly known as the medicine watermelon, then it must have medicinal value.
In regions such as the Northwest and Middle East of our country, many experienced farmers will grow this medicine watermelon on a large scale.
Because it is highly toxic, many farmers will make it into insecticides, herbicides or use it to make medicinal liquor. It is also sun-dried to separate the seeds and can also treat constipation.
In the desert area, the soil is poor, the wind and sand are large, planting this desert watermelon, not only can prevent wind and sand fixation, but also have certain economic benefits, why not enjoy it?
However, its picking and planting requires professional techniques and professional technicians. It must be an old farmer with many years of planting experience to deal with it.
Write at the end
If you don't understand, the desert "watermelon" is enough to fake the truth. Under those conditions, many people may not resist the temptation to touch or eat by mistake.
Therefore, friends who go out to travel, we must do a good job in advance, understand some common sense, and the words spoken by tour guides and locals must also be kept in mind, do not "curiosity harm cats".
Do you have any other thoughts about desert watermelon? Welcome to communicate together in the comments section!