Wedge Community Co-ops

Wedge Community Co-ops
  • About
    • What is a Co-op?
    • Locations
    • Board of Directors
    • Annual Report
    • Product Standards
  • Contact Us
    • Hours & Phone
  • Careers
  • Join
    • About Ownership
    • Owner Benefits
    • Join Now
  • Community
    • Blog
    • Change Matters
    • Cultivate Magazine
    • Recipes
    • Donations
    • Calendar
  • Shop
    • Fresh Flyer
    • Sales & Promotions
    • Sales by Department
    • Co+op Deals
Search

Three Things About Watermelon

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • email

Three things you probably didn’t know about the fruit of summer— watermelon!

  1. Like all fruits, they naturally have seeds. But that doesn’t mean that seedless watermelons are genetically modified—they’re actually hybrids that have been carefully bred to be incapable of producing seeds. They’re kind of the mules of the melon world. And those little white pips you sometimes find inside them? They’re seed coats, where a seed started to form but didn’t mature.
  2. Losing seeds comes at a cost: flavor. Seedless watermelon varieties have been shown to be missing some key volatile compounds that contribute to the iconic flavor and aroma of this summer treat.
  3. Small-scale growers, like our local farms, keep seeded varieties alive—including melons with yellow or orange insides and pint-sized mini melons. While their flavor profiles are more intense than commercial watermelons, these varieties are more susceptible to hollow heart—an internal cracking of the fruit’s flesh. But don’t fear. This isn’t caused by a disease or bad genes—it happens when the plants get an uneven amount of water throughout the growing season. So if you cut one open and its heart is hollow, don’t throw it away, just dig in. Eating local never tasted so sweet.

View the Summer 2014 Share PDF

Back to Summer 2014 Share articles

Latest Posts

  • An Insider Look at Banana Farming October 14, 2025
  • Recall Alert – Lundberg Family Farms Organic Brown Short-Grain Rice 32oz October 9, 2025
  • Recall Alert – Sno-Pac Organic Frozen Cut Spinach October 7, 2025
  • A Visit to Rio y Valle with Equal Exchange October 6, 2025
  • Rooted In The Land: Reclaiming Indigenous Foods September 17, 2025
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Contact Us
  • Data Privacy Policy
  • Return Policy
  • Vendor Info
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Copyright © 2025 Wedge Community Co-ops. All rights reserved.

https://wedge.coop/article/food-science-slice