Watermelons can have Viagra-like effect, study shows
11:27 a.m. Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Luling, Texas — The chemicals in watermelon work much like Viagra.
Just a week after the annual Watermelon Thump Festival here, there's something new that watermelon growers can hang their hat on.
The Director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center has discovered that watermelons have an ingredient that delivers Viagra-like effects and may even increase libido.
This came as a surprise to many people in the community.
"Really, get me another one," one elderly man joked.
There is a catch. The phyto-nutrient called citrulline that relaxes the blood vessels is found in highest concentrations in the part you generally don't eat, the watermelon rind.
"Would it take like a whole watermelon rind to eat to do any good, you might get yourself sick before you get yourself any help," one Luling resident said.
Rinds are used in watermelon pickles. They're Kelly Allen's specialty.
"My husband loves these I don't know if its because he eats these or not but he doesn't have a problem," Allen said.
Neither does Hoyt Alford, according to his girlfriend Lois.
"I don't know that you need 'em," Lois said.
"Well thank you. That's a compliment isn't it?" her boyfriend said.
Scientists are working to breed watermelons with higher concentrations of citruline in the flesh, which may change Luling's image from being known for watermelons to something else.
"It might be a new aspect to our watermelon growing. I can tell you that, no pun intended," one Luling resident said.
The researcher who conducted the study says the watermelon rind also has a beneficial effect on the heart.
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