Watermelons small enough to fit in the palm of your hand will go on sale in the UK shortly.
Solinda “waterbabies” weigh about 4lb, compared with 12lb for a typical watermelon. They contain no pips and almost none of the tough, white part of the skin, which means the melon is almost entirely edible. Morrisons will be the first to stock the fruit.
The variety has been 10 years in development and is grown in Spain and Italy during a season which lasts through the summer. Volumes are said by Syngenta Seeds, which bred the variety, to represent 1% of Continental watermelon production.
Syngenta spokesman Andrew Coker said Solinda would be popular because it had none of the characteristics consumers disliked about conventional watermelons.
“They are small, so you can fit one into a fridge easily without having to cut it in half like you do with full size watermelons,” he said.
“They also go red to green with much less of the white part of the skin, and contain no pips, which means less wastage and less hassle to prepare.”
Coker said Solinda melons were also less watery than regular watermelons and had a sweeter flesh.
TNS figures put UK watermelon sales for the past year at £6.7m, 23.7% up on the previous 12 months.
Solinda “waterbabies” weigh about 4lb, compared with 12lb for a typical watermelon. They contain no pips and almost none of the tough, white part of the skin, which means the melon is almost entirely edible. Morrisons will be the first to stock the fruit.
The variety has been 10 years in development and is grown in Spain and Italy during a season which lasts through the summer. Volumes are said by Syngenta Seeds, which bred the variety, to represent 1% of Continental watermelon production.
Syngenta spokesman Andrew Coker said Solinda would be popular because it had none of the characteristics consumers disliked about conventional watermelons.
“They are small, so you can fit one into a fridge easily without having to cut it in half like you do with full size watermelons,” he said.
“They also go red to green with much less of the white part of the skin, and contain no pips, which means less wastage and less hassle to prepare.”
Coker said Solinda melons were also less watery than regular watermelons and had a sweeter flesh.
TNS figures put UK watermelon sales for the past year at £6.7m, 23.7% up on the previous 12 months.
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