Do you know how to choose a watermelon?

The fact that watermelons are tasty and useful, know, perhaps, everything. As well as that this melon culture is in fact not a vegetable and not a fruit, but a real berry. That's just the size of it is not very "berry", well, it's nothing. Bamboo also grows to tens of meters, and houses are built from it and furniture is made, and it is actually grass. So watermelon has the right to be considered a berry.

But almost every person knows a feeling of bitter disappointment when, having brought home a multi-kilogram "berry" and solemnly cutting it, he finds instead of a bright red pulp something pale pink, and even with a green. This means that the watermelon was immature. However, before talking about how to choose the right watermelon, we must say that even its fiery red inside does not at all mean that this berry has safely ripened on the melon plant. The popularity of watermelons is so great that many unscrupulous traders are ready to stuff it not only with nitrates, which cause accelerated growth and maturation, but also simply dyes. They literally make watermelon injections to soak their flesh with paint and give it a rich red color.

The fact is that for an inexperienced eye a ripe watermelon is practically no different from immature. And this must be taken into account. As well as the fact that it is unrealistic to expect to get a natural ripe watermelon in July (and even more so in June!). And knowing the secrets about how to choose a watermelon, there's nothing to help. Do not rush to the first appeared striped berries on the market - they are absolutely pumped up with different chemistry, and nothing but harm your body will not bring. Suffer at least until the second half of August, when these fruits ripen in the southern regions of our country, and you can with less risk to start buying.

But in August, there is an option to purchase an immature and tasteless fruit. Now let's talk about how to choose a watermelon in the market or in a store.

First of all, pay attention to the tail that remains with the berries from the stem. If it is a saturated green color and looks quite "alive", then this watermelon was broken, not waiting for its ripening.

There is a popular method of snapping berries and squeezing it between hands. Many "experts", showing that they know how to choose a watermelon, with a smart look, click on the skin with a bent finger, and then squeeze it in their hands with all their might. Yes, a ripe watermelon with a tapping should produce a resonant sound, and when squeezing, pop. But you can master this method only after buying the hundredth watermelon, but then there is a chance to make mistakes if you have problems with musical ear.

A reliable guarantee is an incision. Those buyers who do not know how to choose a watermelon, prefer not to risk and ask the seller to cut out a piece of it. Do not ask to be cut to you this fruit. Firstly, it is unwashed, and mud will inevitably get from the peel inside. And secondly, you do not know when the seller last washed his knife ... So even if the berry turns tasty and ripe, there is a risk of catching an intestinal infection.

There is one more secret. Ripe berry weighs less than "green" of the same size. If you do not know how to choose a watermelon of two or three, then you prefer the one that draws less on the scales. Southerners can tell you that the more delicious is the female specimen of this berry. Yes, they are bisexual. To distinguish the "girl" from the "boy", you need to look at the side opposite to the peduncle. Those who know how to choose a sweet watermelon, always buy that berry, in which the bottom is flatter and there is a spot on it, the size of at least a small coin. "Boys" -mill beams are more convex, and the speck is small.

Successful selection and delicious food!