Bringing Up Bobbin

Insomniac minds want to know: The nutritional value of watermelon

Insomniac minds want to know: The nutritional value of watermelon

The question came to me last night, but I forced myself to stay in bed... not that it worked. I still didn't sleep very well.

Bobbin loves watermelon. She'd eat them by the truckfull if we let her. When it's not in season I've found I can still get it at the Whole Foods grocery store down the street. So I always stop there on the weekends to get some as a special treat for her. She'll easily consume 3 or 4 cups of cut up up watermelon.

I've always thought of watermelon as being rich in... water... but not much else, except maybe for whatever vitamin or mineral gives it the pink colour. And so as I watch my daughter gorging herself on the stuff, I've often wondered as to the nutritional value of watermelon besides its hydrative properties, and whether her filling up on it is at the detriment of getting more vitamins and other goodness in her.

As it turns out, I need not worry. According to Wikipedia, they are ripe (pun intended) with lots of goodness. While it is true that

"Watermelon is 92 percent water by weight, the highest percentage of any fruit",

it is also true that

"A one-cup serving of watermelon will provide around 48 calories. Watermelon is an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin A, with one serving containing 14.59 mg of vitamin C and 556.32 IU of vitamin A. Watermelon also provides significant amounts of vitamin B6 and vitamin B1, as well as the minerals potassium and magnesium. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene."

I double-checked these facts at a couple of additional sites, to be sure. When it comes to the nutritional value of foods, I don't like to mess around :-). According www.dietaryfiberfood.com

"Watermelon is rich in carotenoids. Some of the carotenoids in watermelon include lycopene, phytofluene, phytoene, beta-carotene, lutein, and neurosporene. Lycopene makes up the majority of the carotenoids in watermelon. The carotenoid content varies depending on the variety of the watermelon. Depending on the variety, carotenoid content in red fleshed watermelon varies from 37 � 121 mg/kg fresh weight, where as lycopene varies from 35 � 112 mg/kg fresh weight.

Carotenoids have antioxidant activity, free-radical scavenging property. Several researches have reported an association between dietary lycopene consumption and lower incidence in diseases such as prostate and oral cancers. Lycopene may also help reduce risks of cardiovascular disease."

The site also provided the following handy-dandy nutritional value table (source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 19 (2006))

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