Food - News
You Should Never Eat Unripe Watermelon. Here's Why
By ANDREA BECK
Eating an unripe watermelon isn't dangerous, but a test conducted on watermelons at four stages of ripeness showed that the riper the fruit was, the more beta carotene, lycopene, and other nutrients were found in it. Lycopene is an antioxidant that boosts heart and bone health, while beta carotene keeps your immune system strong, and promotes healthy skin and eyes.
To check if a watermelon is ripe before buying it, pick it up and see how it feels — whether it’s big or small, it should feel heavy for its size if it's ripe. You can always compare similar-sized melons and choose the heaviest one, or look for a yellow or light-colored spot on the bottom of the melon to make sure it’s ripe.
However, leave the melon in the produce section if it has stripes all over. Lastly, to avoid buying a flavorless, unripe watermelon, you can also try tapping on it — ripe watermelons sound hollow when you tap on them, while under-ripe or over-ripe melons will sound dull.