Summer is here, and it's melon season again!
As a qualified melon eater, there are more than 20 varieties of watermelons common in summer, how many have you eaten?
A brief history of watermelon
Throughout the summer, the most common and most eaten melon should be watermelon.
According to reports:
According to the Database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in 2016, the world's total watermelon production was 117 million tons, and China ranked first with 79.2 million tons, accounting for 68.4% of the world's total production.
The National Bureau of Statistics also made a special calculation of watermelon: if it is calculated according to 10 kilograms of a watermelon, Chinese eat 16 billion watermelons every year. We, who make up 20 percent of the world's population, eat about 70 percent of the world's watermelons.
(Reference: Yangtze Evening News)
In this way, China is a big country of watermelon, with large output and large consumption, and every melon-eating masses have contributed a force!
However, the origin of watermelon, not in China, but in Africa, in ancient times, came through the western region, so it is commonly known as "watermelon".
The time of introduction, divided into several stages, the first stage, the early Tang Dynasty, spread to Xinjiang; The time of introduction to the interior is even later, perhaps five generations later.
However, there is also a saying that watermelon came from the sea, the time is probably after the Western Han Dynasty, that is, the line of the Maritime Silk Road, when the people who could eat this melon, either rich or expensive, belonged to the exclusive enjoyment of the princes and nobles, and it was not called watermelon, but called melon.
These two theories, the common saying that the public is justified and the wife is reasonable, may coexist at the same time, but the real impact should still be introduced through the western region.
In addition, legend has it that when Shennong tasted the hundred herbs, he found this melon, because the water is succulent and thin, called it "thin melon", and later, it slowly spread to "watermelon".
The watermelon family
No matter how the watermelon comes from, it has become a must-have for people in the summer, which can be called "the melon of the summer".
In China, watermelon production area, wide distribution, from south to north, from east to west, there are watermelon planting, common, often eaten about 20 kinds.
Black
Remember the Black Beauty Watermelon?
This kind of watermelon, oblong oval, melon skin black, probably dark green, melon red, sweet and juicy entrance, sweeter than the average watermelon, once very popular in the market, visit relatives and friends or eat at home, are the first choice, but in recent years seems to be more and more rare, do not know what is going on?
Unicorn melon
Kirin melon is a common watermelon on the market, melon juice is thick, melon skin texture is good, like the ancient legend of the hair of the unicorn, may be this reason, is called "kirin melon", specific difficult to verify.
The origin of unicorn melon, mainly in the south, especially in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and Hainan, planting unicorn melon is more, this kind of melon, the growth environment and soil and sunshine requirements are higher than ordinary watermelon varieties, the advantage is that the planting cycle is short, good taste.
Selenium squash
The watermelon that you usually eat may be sparse and watery, but when you open it, it is absolutely amazing, this melon is like a long meat, all sand, it is really different.
Many people first see this melon, great surprise, feel fresh, in fact, selenium squash has long been there, mainly produced in Ningxia region, because it is rich in selenium, coupled with the local soil environment, so it is named "selenium squash", also known as "Gobi watermelon", "watermelon in the stone cracks".
Special Phoenix
Generally speaking, watermelon is green skin red gourd, but there is also a kind of watermelon, melon skin is serious watermelon peel, green melon skin, open a look, but it is a yellow melon, this melon, is the special phoenix.
Special Xiaofeng, belongs to the improved watermelon, native to the mainland Taiwan, about the 90s of the last century, introduced, single melon is not large, the melon skin is thin, the melon is crystal yellow, many people feel fresh, so, once became the new favorite of the market.
In the watermelon family, a variety of melons, so that the melon eating masses stunned, from the variety, there are one or twenty common species, from the shape, it is even more bizarre, round, square, rectangular, heart-shaped watermelon, etc., mostly marketing means. In terms of color, it is usually red, and there are also yellow watermelons such as special phoenixes. In addition, in the past two years, there have been white watermelons on the market, one more than one strange, I don't know what kind of melon you have eaten?