Her Majesty - Citrullus lanatus

Since I was born, it was known to me. There was no dilemma...
As summer comes and the days become hot, the best fruit (or vegetable) for refreshment is definitely Watermelon.

The only dilemma, which has existed for a long time, not only in my head, but also in scientific circles, is the dilemma: Is watermelon a fruit or a vegetable...

It depends from which angle you look at it.
Since watermelon belongs to the pumpkin family, biologists classify it as a vegetable.
But since it is eaten without any heat treatment (like any fruit), many consider it a fruit.
On the other hand, botanists consider it a fruit, because it develops from a plant that flowers and has seeds.
Then again, it is an annual plant, which is the main characteristic of any vegetable...

One thing is certain.
Watermelon is about 90% water and as such, it is excellent for hydration and pleasant for refreshment, especially when it cools down a bit on hot summer days.

Watermelon has a lot of vitamin B6, vitamin A and potassium. It is also rich in lycopene (a plant pigment from the group of carotenoids), which gives it its red color and strengthens immunity, making watermelon a powerful antioxidant.
Watermelon has strong anti-inflammatory properties, it is excellent for the kidneys.
Watermelon has a very low caloric value and is excellent for weight loss because it contains a lot of water that saturates quickly, and it is excellent after strenuous activities, training or hard work, because in addition to refreshment and intake of lost fluid, the sugar in watermelon compensates for glycogen levels and muscles.

Due to the high level of sugar in watermelon, you should pay attention to the amount you eat, because, although the sugar breaks down quickly, it can be dangerous in large quantities for everyone with diabetes, as well as for those who are not, if they overdo it with the amount eaten.

I remember some of my watermelon anecdotes.

When watermelon and company are mentioned, a photo from our family album from a summer vacation on the Croatian coast (Jelsa on Hvar) comes to mind in 1978.

A group of children, lined up on a mattress, with slices of watermelon 😃
I am this little one who doesn't have his own piece 🥲

The right photo for #TBT, even though it's not Thursday 😁

In my youth, when I spent summers in the countryside, I often stayed with my uncle, who was a farmer.
He planted watermelons for several years.
I often helped him in his work with watermelons, planted them, dug them up, watered them, and it was especially nice for me when, during the ripening period, I slept with him at night in the summer hut in the field, from which he protected the watermelons from reckless thieves or animals. which can damage them.
In the end, I helped him pick them, but I also sold them.
I was an excellent market seller of sweet watermelons 😀

10-15 years ago, I also grew them on my plot, and stopped when I almost died from a stomachache caused by a large amount of too cold watermelon...
That's not why I stopped eating it 😀
Since then, I have been careful about the amount I eat, especially how chilled it is.
I avoid chilling it in the fridge.

The best is a chilled watermelon on the basement floor, in some spring water or lowered into a market water well (this was the best way to cool watermelon in the village).

Now I buy watermelons from street vendors, who sell them from their trucks.

And every day, I eat a few cubes of chilled, sweet watermelon.

What is your favorite seasonal fruit or vegetable that you enjoy?
Check out the post with the topic assigned by #ecency-star, for this week here and you are welcome with your story.