Watermelon: introduction
Touted as the passion fruit and even compared to viagra, watermelon should be appreciated for many other properties, much more accredited and truthful. But in the course of the article we will also address this alleged, mystical and extraordinary potential of watermelon, deepening its general characteristics, botanical peculiarities , the nutritional composition and uses in the herbal and phytotherapeutic field.
General characteristics
As for the melon, the watermelon is the protagonist of the summer, a thirst-quenching, refreshing and low-calorie fruit, able to ensure a precious, as abundant, water supply.
Watermelon is also commonly called watermelon, and in botany it is called Cucumis citrullus or Citrullus vulgaris. Watermelon is distinguished from other fruits by its massive size, as well as by its weight, which sometimes even reaches 20 kilos: in any case, the quality of the fruit is not always proportional to the weight.
Watermelon or watermelon?
The term watermelon, although more similar to the scientific name of the fruit, it is typical of the central and southern regions of Italy, while in the North it is preferred to call the fruit “watermelon”.
The strange, and at the same time funny, fact is that both terms - "watermelon" and "watermelon" - have their roots in "antiquity, and both are linked to cucumber:" watermelon "in fact, derives from the Latin cucumis, while “watermelon” originates from ancient Greek watermelon, whose meanings lead back, precisely, to “cucumber”.
Botanical analysis
Watermelon is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Curcubitaceae family, typical of southern and tropical Africa. The stem, herbaceous and climbing, is lying down and reaches considerable lengths, sometimes even exceeding 10 meters; the leaves are large, hairy, incised and trefoil. The flowers are both female and male, while the fruits, massive, heavy and voluminous, have a rounded or oval shape. The seeds, hidden in the red, sugary and very sweet pulp of the watermelon, can be black, yellowish or white, with a typical drop shape.
The outside of the watermelon, the bark, is hard, and has a bright green color streaked with light green plates or spotted with yellowish or white spots: the rind is not edible.
Nutritional characters
As we have seen, the "watermelon falls into the category of the most thirst-quenching and refreshing foods ever: so much" it is true that it is made up of over 93% water, and provides very few calories (only 16 per 100 grams of product, even less than with melon). In the "watermelon" there are approximately 3.7 grams of sugar per hectogram of fruit, 0.4 of protein and 0.2 of fiber.
For the reasons listed above, watermelon is an excellent ally in low-calorie diets; however, excessive consumption is not recommended for diabetic patients.
Watermelon is a source of antioxidant vitamins (A and C), B vitamins (B6) and mineral salts, in particular potassium, phosphorus and magnesium (112, 11 and 10 mg / 100g of product respectively).
Therapeutic properties
If thirst-quenching is a property, then the watermelon is the progenitor among the fruits, considering the immeasurable quantity of water present in it.
Even the purifying property is perfectly suited to the "watermelon: so much" that for some African peoples, the beciuans, the fruit is even exalted as sacred and purifying. [taken from http://it.wikipedia.org/]
The purifying activity of watermelon is directly correlated to the diuretic one: by stimulating diuresis, the organism favors the elimination of excess waste.
Due to the presence of vitamins, antioxidants and carotenoids, watermelon is one of the fruits studied by research in recent years as a possible - but not yet proven - remedy in the prevention of tumors.
Watermelon, to be consumed preferably between meals because it tends to slow digestion, provides a certain feeling of satiety: in this regard, it is an excellent aid to keep hunger under control in those people who, unable to control it, tend to overfeed .
Watermelon seeds boast mild laxative properties.
Watermelon against erectile dysfunction?
Many praise watermelon as the panacea for male sexual disorders, comparing it to viagra or even celebrating this summer fruit as more potent than Cialis.
First of all, a part of the truth has been demonstrated: watermelon contains citrulline, an “aphrodisiac” amino acid because it is able to dilate blood vessels, thus favoring an erection.
Once in the organism, citrulline is transformed into arginine, capable of stimulating both the immune and cardio-circulatory systems: in the latter case, through vasodilation, greater elasticity is favored in the blood vessel wall.
The “problem” is that citrulline is not found in the juicy and sugary pulp of watermelon, rather in the white part, commonly set aside: the myth of watermelon as a remedy for erectile dysfunction collapses.
However, the citrulline contained in watermelon, a potential natural replacement for the Viagra of the future, does not generate the same side effects triggered by the drug.
Currently, the researchers have set themselves the goal of genetically modifying the fruit, as long as citrulline can also reach a considerable concentration in the pulp of the watermelon.
Non-alcoholic watermelon
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Watermelon in brief, summary of the properties of "watermelon"
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