Seedless Watermelon

A strange thing is happening to the watermelon. The seeds have disappeared. Where is the fun in spitting seeds. Apparently none. The consumer has spoken and they demanded no seeds. Not only are they juicer but they last longer. The altered seedless watermelon is not alone. Grapes have been seedless for some time. To find watermelon with seeds at the grocery store is becoming rarer. Only sixteen percent of grocery stores sell watermelons with seeds and the number is on the decline each year.

“Seedless watermelons are self-sterile hybrids that develop normal-looking fruits without developing any seeds. The breeding technique to create a seedless watermelon comes in multiple steps. A normal diploid plant (with two sets of chromosomes) is crossed with a genetically altered tetraploid plant (with four sets of chromosomes). The seeds from this cross produce triploid plants (with three sets of chromosomes) that when pollinated by normal diploid plants, produce seedless fruit.” Read more>>

Tony M.

If this article made you think, brought back a memory, or made you see something differently, I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email at sandboxworld@gmail.com. I read every message personally and, with your permission, may feature your thoughts in a future article because the best stories are the ones we share.