Traditionally, on Saturdays, we publish for you the answers to the quiz in the "Question - answer" format. Our questions are very different, both simple and quite complex. The quiz is very interesting and quite popular, but we just help you test your knowledge and make sure that you have chosen correct option answer, out of four proposed. And we have another question in the quiz - What part of the world is considered the birthplace of watermelon?

• America
• Australia
• Africa

Correct answer D. AFRICA

The birthplace of watermelons is the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. Until now, there are wild watermelons, which are small (about the size of a tennis ball) and weigh about 200 grams.

Over 4000 years ago, watermelons began to be grown in ancient Egypt, as evidenced by images and seeds of watermelons found in Egyptian tombs. The Egyptians often placed watermelons in the tombs of the pharaohs as a source of food in their afterlife. Later, watermelons began to be cultivated in Persia (Iran), Arabia, India and other Asian countries with a dry and hot climate.

Watermelons were brought to Western Europe during the era of the Crusades about 700-900 years ago. Watermelons came to Russia from eastern and southern countries by sea through Astrakhan.

Russian name watermelon got from the Türkic word χarbuz / karpuz, which was borrowed from the Persian language. The word "harbuza" (χarbūza, χarbuza) translated from Persian means "melon", and the literal meaning of this word is "a huge cucumber" or "a cucumber the size of a donkey."

Until the end of the 17th century, watermelons were brought to Russia from abroad as an overseas delicacy. They were not eaten raw then, but the slices were soaked for a long time and cooked with pepper and other spices. The first watermelons were sown by the tsar's decree of November 11, 1660, and it was prescribed: as soon as the outlandish vegetables (or, more correctly, berries) ripen, immediately deliver them to Moscow. Under Peter I, watermelons were no longer imported from abroad.

Nowadays, edible watermelons grow wild in South West Africa. In rainy years, thickets of wild watermelons are formed there. By the time the fruit ripens, the stalks dry out. Wind or rain streams drive them long distances. On the way, watermelons break or are gnawed by animals. The gummy juice sticks the seeds to the soil. After the seeds germinate quickly. In some areas of the Kalahari Desert, these wild watermelons are almost the only source of moisture.

October has come. One of the holidays celebrated in early October is watermelon... On this day, children and their parents around the world organize master classes on watermelon carving, quizzes and contests dedicated to the hero of the holiday - watermelon. On October 7, Sunday, the Orion youth center is organizing a festive program dedicated to the holiday, and we will tell you about 10 interesting facts about this amazing, incredibly juicy and sweet berry!

The history of the watermelon
It turns out that watermelon was known in Egypt 4000 years ago. In the drawings of the ancient Egyptians, in the tombs, images of watermelons were found: seeds and remnants of leaves.

What is the birthplace of watermelon?
The homeland of watermelon is the deserts of Africa, where it is still found in the wild. More than a hundred years ago, the English explorer D. Livingston, who was traveling in the Kalahari Desert, accidentally stumbled upon thickets of wild-growing watermelons. Moreover, not only round striped fruits known to the researcher grew here, but also oval, small, the size of egg... Some watermelons had the usual sweet flesh, while others, on the contrary, were unbearably bitter. But most of all there were juicy fruits, but absolutely tasteless.
Due to their high water content, watermelons are one of the few water sources in some countries, they are called the “drink of the desert”.)

Is watermelon a vegetable, fruit, berry or mushroom?
Watermelon fruit - juicy berry with lots of seeds.

What is the name of the place where the watermelon grows?
Pumpkin, watermelon, melon are cramped in the garden. They need space. And it all started with a small garden. In the East, they planted a tree for shade, a rose for beauty, a melon and a watermelon to treat guests. A garden near the house in Turkic "melon". The field on which they grow is called melons, and watermelons, melons, pumpkins are called melons.

What does the word "watermelon" mean?
The Russian name for watermelon is derived from the word "harbuza", which is "a huge cucumber" in Iranian languages. (Türkic "karbuz" goes back to the Persian language and literally translates as "donkey cucumber"

What medicinal effect does watermelon have?
It should be noted that watermelons are known not only as a delicacy, but also as a medicine. Their juicy fruits are used as a diuretic for renal and cardiovascular edema. They are full of well-absorbed fructose, B vitamins, trace elements. Watermelon is very attractive for dieters, because the pulp of watermelon is low in calories (in 100 g about 38 kcal), and it can be used in large quantities to simulate saturation.

What is the essential acid for human health found in watermelon?
An approximate incomplete chemical composition of the edible part of a watermelon. Water (80%), sugar (5.5 - 13%), fiber (0.54%), pectin substances(0.7%), ascorbic acid (4 - 8 mg / 100 g), bioflavonoids (72 - 135 mg / 100 g), thiamine (0.012 - 0.049 mg / 100 g), riboflavin (0.006 - 0.017 mg / 100 g ...

When did watermelon appear in Russia?
Until the end of the 17th century, watermelons were brought to Russia from abroad as an overseas delicacy. They were not eaten raw then, but for a long time they soaked the slices in sugar syrup and boiled with pepper and other spices. In the 13th century, the watermelon was brought to Astrakhan, and it was distributed throughout the south of Russia. Every year, watermelon festivals are held in Astrakhan, where flowers are cut out of watermelons, rolled on the grass, weighed, eaten, held various fun contests (competition for the sweetest and largest watermelon who will eat the watermelon faster) and even organized watermelon fights.

The first watermelons were sown by the tsar's decree of November 11, 1660, and it was prescribed: as soon as the outlandish vegetables (or, more correctly, berries) ripen, immediately deliver them to Moscow. Under Peter I, watermelons were no longer imported from abroad. They were often served in palaces. But not fresh, but again soaked in sugar syrup.

What kind exotic dishes made from watermelons?
Condensed watermelon juice can be used to make viscous “watermelon honey” containing 60-80% sugar.

Why don't many vegetarians eat watermelon?
It turns out that some staunch vegetarians refuse to eat watermelons, as their red flesh resembles meat.

Cultivated in abundance all over the world, it is called Citrullus lanatus in Latin. This large, lash-forming plant up to 3 meters long belongs to the pumpkin family. The closest wild-growing related species are still found in southern Africa, and the history of watermelons as a cultivated plant goes back more than one thousand years.

The features common to all varieties of watermelons are the presence of long, powerful whips, covered with pubescent pinnate-lobed leaves with a noticeable bluish tint. For fixing on horizontal and vertical surfaces, watermelons use antennae, which coarse and dry out during the development of the plant.

Pale yellow single flowers are located in the axils of the leaves. When pollination occurs, a large fruit forms in place of the flower. It is because of this false berry with a hard surface layer and a juicy core that watermelon is grown. In the early stages of development, fruits, like stems and foliage, are covered with hard hairs that disappear as they grow and are considered one of the signs of ripeness of a watermelon.

And ripe, round and oblong, up to 60 cm in diameter, watermelons have:

• smooth, tough peel, usually dark green or striped in color, but white, yellow, marbled, and spotted peels are found;
• juicy, sweet pulp of pink, dark red, orange, yellow or white shade with numerous brown or dark brown seeds.

Watermelons are thermophilic and grow comfortably only at temperatures above 20–25 ° C.

At the same time, breeding work has been carried out for many decades to obtain varieties, both drought-resistant and having good disease resistance, and differing early dates ripening.

Therefore, the northern boundaries of crop cultivation have seriously shifted over the past hundred years. More and more people know about watermelons not only by hearsay, but also regularly enjoy sweet berries. And on the beds, fruits appeared, ripening within 65–75 days after the appearance of the first shoots.

The origin and history of watermelons

Archaeologists and paleobotanists believe that the cultivated variety of watermelons has common roots with small wild-growing representatives of the genus Citrullus, which are still abundant in the desert regions of South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia, Namibia and Botswana. It was in these countries that the largest number genetic forms of watermelons, producing fruits with bitter, insipid and slightly sweet pulp.

V ancient times the wild ancestors of modern watermelons were practically the only source moisture for animals, and for local tribes, and for travelers in the desert.

It was then that the history of watermelon as a food culture began. If bitter plants with a high content of glycosides were ignored, then more edible varieties reached northern Africa 4 thousand years ago and interested the peoples who inhabited the Nile Valley. From here, the culture, as the history of the watermelon says, spread to the Mediterranean, to the Middle East and beyond, all the way to India and China.

The Encyclopedia Britannica tells about the cultivation of watermelons in Early Kingdom Egypt. It also mentions the presence of frescoes, which narrate the collection of these recognizable fruits on the banks of the Nile.

The seeds of a watermelon or its distant ancestor have been found in the tombs of the 12th dynasty pharaohs.

There is written evidence of the cultivation of one of the varieties of wild-growing watermelon in India in the 7th century AD. Even today, the small fruits of Citrullus lanatus fistulosus species are used in India as a vegetable crop.

In the 10th century, watermelons came to China, a country that today is the main supplier of this type of melons to the world market. And on the territory of Europe, or rather on the Iberian Peninsula, watermelons came with the Moorish soldiers.

In the X-XII centuries, the plant is cultivated in Cordoba and Seville, from where, according to medieval history, watermelons find their way to other parts of the continent. But due to climatic restrictions, it was impossible to get stable yields somewhere other than southern Europe, and watermelons were used as exotic plants in gardens and greenhouses.

It is interesting that the melon culture very quickly acclimatized on the shores of the New World, where watermelons got in two ways at once: with European colonists and slaves brought from the African continent.

It is reliably known that the history of watermelons in America began in 1576. In this distant summer in Florida, watermelons planted by Spanish settlers were already bearing fruit.

A little later, melon plantations appeared on the territory South America... Watermelons were enjoyed by the Indian tribes of the Mississippi Valley, as well as the local population of the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii.

On the territory of Russia, watermelons were obviously imported along the Great Silk Road, however, due to the complexity of the climate, until the middle of the last century, the culture was spread only in southern regions, for example, in Little Russia, in the Kuban and in the steppe regions of the Volga region. You won't be able to learn about the history of watermelons, for so much time the plant lives next door to a person. Today, the roots of the cultivated species cultivated in many regions of Russia in summer cottages are not even known for certain.

But this does not prevent people from working on improving the plant and obtaining new varieties. At the moment, there are several hundred varieties and hybrids of cultivated watermelons in the world. Thanks to this and the development of greenhouse technologies, it became possible to grow sweet fruits even where people had never heard of a giant berry before.

At the same time, breeders are no longer limited to breeding new varieties with traditionally green bark and scarlet pulp.

On the beds, watermelons ripen, in which, under the white, black, spotted or yellow peel, not only red or pink, but also white and yellow flesh is hidden.

And for the most sophisticated gourmets, farmers in the Japanese province of Zentsuji, placing the ovary in a special case, have mastered the cultivation of first cubic, and now figured watermelons.

The chemical composition of watermelon

What makes people all over the world love watermelons so much? The most obvious answer is sweet, refreshing taste. ripe fruits... But what is the complete energetic and chemical composition of watermelons, and in what substances can they have a beneficial effect on human health?

100 grams of fresh scarlet watermelon pulp contains:

• 0.61 grams of protein;
• 0.15 grams of fat;
• 7.55 grams of carbohydrates, 6.2 grams of which are sugars;
• 0.4 grams of dietary fiber;
• 91.45 grams of water.

With this composition, the calorie content of watermelon does not exceed 30 kcal, but this does not end with the benefits of eating fruits. There are a lot of vitamins in a 100-gram slice, including 10% daily value consumption of ascorbic acid, as well as at least 4% of the amount necessary for a person, vitamins B1, B2 and B3, B5 and B6, choline and essential micro- and macroelements. These are calcium, magnesium and iron, potassium and phosphorus, manganese, sodium and zinc.

Important place in chemical composition the pulp is occupied by lycopene, of which 100 grams contains up to 4530 mcg. And in the bark of watermelon there is such a valuable amino acid as citrulline.

How long should a watermelon be stored?

To maximize the benefits of watermelon, you need to eat ripe fruits grown in compliance with the rules of agricultural technology. Moreover, as they are stored, watermelons also lose some of their vitamins, moisture and sugar. This means that the question of how long is of paramount importance. The answer to it depends on the variety and storage method.

If the pulp of a watermelon of the Ogonyok or Crimson sweet variety loses its juiciness and becomes grainy a couple of weeks after being removed from the lash, then the juicy fresh fruits of the Holodok variety, stored for up to 5 months, can become a pleasant surprise on the New Year's table.

At room temperature, away from heating appliances, sunlight and moisture, watermelon is not stored for so long, up to a month. In a cool ventilated cellar or cellar, whole watermelons remain tasty on average for 2 to 4 months.

• If you want to keep the watermelon longer, you can freeze the pulp or juice.
• The watermelon slices are dried to form a kind of chips. Natural gummies are made from dried juice.
• And also watermelon is pickled, salted and fermented, make their juice and pieces of fruit jam, jam and aromatic candied fruits.

When using these methods, the shelf life of the watermelon is extended up to a year. But a cut watermelon cannot be stored for a long time. Even in the refrigerator, pathogenic flora develops on the sweet moist pulp per day, and bacteria that lead to fermentation settle. In a warm place, this process begins in a couple of hours.

Signs of a ripe watermelon

To be able to recognize a ripe, ready-to-eat watermelon is important not only for the buyer at the counter, but also for the summer resident who has received a rich harvest. How long the watermelon is stored depends on the fidelity of the choice, and what useful material managed to accumulate in its pulp. Without cutting the fruit, you can determine ripeness by appearance watermelon and the whip on which it is located.

There are several signs of a ripe watermelon:

The norm of nitrates in watermelon

Like other plants, watermelons are able to accumulate not only useful substances, but also compounds that negatively affect human health. It is known that the norm of nitrates in watermelon can be seriously exceeded if, during the period of watermelon growth, the plant:

• lacked warmth, which was reflected in a slowdown in the development process;
• received an excess amount of nitrogen fertilizers;
• was under the influence of pesticides, leading to the accumulation harmful substances;
• suffered from a lack of moisture in the soil and air;
• was deficient in the soil of molybdenum, sulfur, cobalt or potassium;
• was in soil with high acidity or salt content.

Extremely allowable rate nitrates in watermelon is 60 mg / kg. And here it is important to remember that the greatest amount of harmful substances is concentrated closer to the surface, and especially in the crust.

For an adult, the permissible amount of nitrates ingested is determined at the rate of 5 mg per kilogram of weight. The limiting amount of nitrites is even less and should not exceed 0.2 mg per kilogram of human body weight.

If the norm of nitrates in watermelon is exceeded, these substances in humans cause a violation metabolic processes, and with regular ingestion of excessive amounts of these dangerous compounds, the development of cancerous tumors, cyanosis, severe lesions nervous system and digestion, pathologies of the heart and blood vessels. Nitrates and nitrites have an extremely negative effect on the development of the fetus during pregnancy.

In order to know everything about watermelon intended for food, and to be sure of its safety, it is important to adhere to the rules of agricultural technology when growing and use the means of express analysis.

How to choose a sweet and ripe watermelon - video

To the question Where is the birthplace of watermelon? given by the author Valentina the best answer is Africa.
Watermelon is a genus of annuals herbaceous plants family of pumpkin. It turns out that watermelon was known in Egypt 4000 years ago. in the drawings of the ancient Egyptians, in the tombs, images of watermelons were found: seeds and remnants of leaves. The birthplace of watermelon is the Kalahari and Nabib deserts in the south and the Sudan deserts in the Center of Africa. Until the end of the 17th century, watermelons were brought to Russia from abroad as an overseas delicacy. They were not eaten raw then, but the slices were soaked for a long time and cooked with pepper and other spices. The first watermelons were sown by the tsar's decree of November 11, 1660, and it was prescribed: as soon as the outlandish vegetables (or, more correctly, berries) ripen, immediately deliver them to Moscow. Under Peter I, watermelons were no longer imported from abroad. They were often served in palaces. But not fresh, but again soaked in sugar syrup. The Russian name for watermelon comes from the word "harbuza", which in Iranian languages ​​means melon, or "huge cucumber".

Answer from Vyacheslav Lyakhovsky[newbie]
South Africa

Answer from Neurosis[guru]
The homeland of the watermelon is South Africa, where its wild forms are still found in the Kalahari semi-desert. The watermelon was cultivated in time immemorial. 1500 BC. NS. it was cultivated in the Middle East by Arabs and Jews, and came to Western Europe with the knights-crusaders. In the 17th century, the Tatars began to cultivate watermelons in Astrakhan, from where they spread to Ukraine, Far East, in the Volga region, Central Asia... The plant got its name from the word "harbyu-za", which translated from Iranian means "melon" or "big cucumber".
WITH therapeutic purpose use fruits and seeds harvested as they ripen. Watermelons have a diuretic, choleretic, laxative and anti-inflammatory effect, lower blood cholesterol levels. They have long been used in dietary nutrition with anemia, diseases of cardio-vascular system, gastrointestinal tract and urinary tract, used for dropsy, bilious - and urolithiasis, gout. The pulp of watermelon regulates the work of the intestines, promotes the elimination of heavy elements, including radioisotopes, well quenches thirst and is useful for postoperative patients.
V folk medicine watermelon is used for jaundice, kidney disease, upper respiratory tract, as an antipyretic agent. Dry peel powder is used for colitis, especially in children. For this purpose, a decoction of green peels is also used. The seeds, ground with milk and honey, are used for intestinal and uterine bleeding, for the expulsion of worms.
Watermelons are eaten most often in fresh... For long-term storage they are salted. Honey is made from the pulp, and candied fruits are made from the peels.

Answer from philosophy[guru]
What could be more desirable and tastier on a hot sunny day than a piece of cold and juicy watermelon? It is not surprising that people have been enjoying the taste of this fruit for more than a thousand years.

Watermelon is only one of the members of the pumpkin family. Like cucumbers, watermelon seedlings have beautiful flowers that look like bells every year.
Cantaloupe is a relative of watermelon, a species popular in ancient times and originally grown in the southern regions of Asia. All cantaloupes are different light aroma musk, which is the reason for their name. By the way, cantaloupe is also called cantaloupe.
Cantaloupe, a winter melon, ripens later in the fall and has a long shelf life.
Watermelons are generally much larger than cantaloupes, and much juicier. Some watermelons can weigh 22 pounds or more. The rind on the outside of the watermelon is hard and green, often with streaks of even darker green. The inside of a watermelon is red, pinkish, or even slightly yellowish.
In order for watermelons to fully ripen, they need a hot climate and a long ripening period. They are planted in the soil after the ground is well warmed up and there is no danger of frost. Usually, watermelons are served fresh, but they can also be canned. In the countries of the East, watermelon seeds are considered a kind of delicacy.

Answer from Rrr[guru]
astrakhan

Answer from Yusya - happy--[guru]
Exactly in Astrakhan)

Answer from Yotas Kropin[guru]
Who is Watermelon? Who is the mafia? Bandito? ...

Answer from Polina D-anko[active]
Melon

Answer from Elena[guru]
The homeland of watermelons is Tropical Africa. It was from there that they spread wherever suitable conditions existed for their growth - a hot climate and fertile land. This is evidenced by the fact that in ancient Sanskrit there is a word for watermelon, and the artists and craftsmen of Ancient Egypt often made it the hero of their works. This means that man has been growing watermelons for many thousands of years!
Watermelon is only one of the members of the pumpkin family. Like cucumbers, watermelon seedlings have beautiful, bell-like flowers every year.

Most of all cultivated in China, America, Hungary and Russia. Our industrial culture of watermelon is concentrated in the Volga region and some areas of the southern regions; here the watermelon ripens freely on outdoors, while achieving excellent qualities in terms of taste. In the middle chernozem areas, the watermelon sometimes does not ripen in the ground, as well as in more northern areas, therefore, the culture in the fields is replaced by its withdrawal on bunks or in greenhouses. For the melon culture, virgin sandy loam chernozem is preferred, on which the fruits are larger than on loamy. Maturation early varieties- in the second half of June, late - by October.
The best varieties of melon watermelons are Astrakhan, or Bykovsky (white), monastery (green with white stripes and with red or gray seeds), Kamyshinsky (the same color), Mozdok, Uryupinsky and others. Melon watermelon serves, in addition to local consumption, also for sending to capitals and large cities. Most goes north astrakhan watermelon, mainly from the melons of the southern Volga region. Some part of watermelons also goes to salt, like cucumbers, and for cooking, by boiling and thickening, juicy pulp, watermelon honey (nardek, bekmes). With the cultivation of watermelon in the garden or greenhouse, seeds are taken that are old (fresh ones give unfertile, albeit strong plant growth). Of the varieties, the earliest deserve attention - apple, Korean, chernoususka, raspberry cream and etc.
Medical applications
Due to its juicy pulp, watermelon has a diuretic property; it is recommended to eat it for edema caused by diseases of the cardiovascular system and kidneys.