Title: Let’s get real about seedless watermelons: They have seeds — Quartz
Headings: Let’s get real about seedless watermelons: They have seeds
Let’s get real about seedless watermelons: They have seeds
Content: Let’s get real about seedless watermelons: They have seeds — Quartz
THE MULE OF FRUIT
Let’s get real about seedless watermelons: They have seeds
AP / Northeast Miss. Daily Journal / Julian Carroll
An incredibly refreshing misnomer. By Zachary M. Seward
Chief executive officer
United StatesJuly 19, 2013This article is more than 2 years old. Americans consume more watermelon than anyone else, and with much of the United States sweltering under the blanket of this summer’s most intense heat wave, the sweet, fleshy, water-logged fruit is having its annual moment. Watermelons, like all fruit, naturally produce seeds, but these days, the preferred type of watermelon is one that’s seedless. Last year, the seedless variety comprised 73% of all watermelon imported to the US, mainly from Mexico—a dramatic shift from just a decade ago. Seedless watermelons have defeated their seeded brethren. ​
The traditional Western watermelon sports a green rind, red flesh, and black seeds, which are slightly bitter under their hard shell. In China, another country serious about its watermelon, the seeds are commonly eaten raw or roasted, but Americans are more accustomed to spitting them out, hence the appeal of a watermelon that dispenses with the black seeds entirely.