Dalma Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reported U.S. Department of Agriculture wrote watermelon stored in room temperature had nutrition is much better than the watermelon that is stored in the refrigerator or freshly picked melons,
Penelope Perkins-Veazie and Julie Collins of the Center for Agricultural Pnelitian in Lane, Oklahoma, examining specific elements contained in the watermelon carotene - an antioxidant antidote to the elements of free radicals caused by sun or chemical elements that endanger health.
Watermelon is rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that makes watermelons and tomatoes red and may help prevent heart disease and some cancers.
Perkins-Veazie and Collins tested several variatas watermelon stored for 14 days at a temperature of 70 F (21 degrees Celsius), 55 F (13 degrees C), and 41 F (5 degrees C).
As a result, watermelon fruit stored in room temperature (27 degrees C) in air-conditioned room has a much better nutritional content. While the fruit freshly picked watermelon stored at room temperature has 40 percent more lycopene and 50 percent to 139 percent extra betacarotene which later by our bodies is converted into vitamin A.
"All the fruit watermelons used in our study had been selected by farmers and perfectly ripe when harvested," the researchers said.
They said the findings showed watermelons continue to produce fruit nutrient content after they are picked and cold temperatures slow the process.
The ability to survive and develop nutritional content of watermelon fruit is between 14 to 21 days at 13 degrees Celsius after harvest. While at a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius (refrigerator), watermelon stop the process of nutrient enrichment and after a week it will rot. (Idionline / net)
