When encountering watermelons in the desert, why no one dares to eat them no matter how thirsty they are? How is it different from regular watermelon?

Every summer, the watermelon that everyone loves is often in short supply. After one sip, the juice is sweet, quenching thirst and craving.

Just imagine, if you can eat a mouthful of watermelon in the hot desert, how refreshing it would be.

What is strange is that if you travel to the desert, the locals will repeatedly remind you not to touch watermelons when you see them. Could it be that the locals are stingy and don't want outsiders to eat their watermelons?

In the desert where the yellow sand is flying all over the sky and the scorching heat is unbearable, you can indeed find a kind of watermelon. The shape of this watermelon is no different from ordinary watermelons, and the stems and leaves are also very similar.

When you see a watermelon in the desert, no matter how thirsty you are, you must control your mouth, because it is likely to be a medicinal watermelon. It looks like a normal watermelon, but once you eat it, the consequences can be serious.

In addition, in the endless desert, it is very difficult to seek rescue. For your own safety, it is best not to touch this watermelon.

What is medicinal watermelon, why can't it be eaten, and what is the difference between it and ordinary watermelon?

People in the desert talk about watermelon medicine, because it is really terrible.

The watermelon we often eat has ruddy, juicy, and sweet taste, but the pulp of medicinal watermelon is quite different.

After the medicinal watermelon is broken open, the pulp inside appears as a white floc, a bit like a ripe loofah. The water content of ordinary watermelon is about 90%, but the water content of medicinal watermelon is very low.

In other words, wanting to supplement watermelon with watermelon is simply a dream. Moreover, the taste of medicinal watermelon is not very friendly, bitter and unpalatable.

Compared with less water and bitter taste, another characteristic of medicinal watermelon has become the key to local people's fear of eating it. Since it can't quench thirst, can medicinal watermelon be used to satisfy hunger?

The answer is no, simply put, the desert medicine watermelon is poisonous. After eating, humans may experience dizziness and diarrhea in mild cases, and may cause kidney failure in severe cases.

The transportation in the desert is inconvenient and the infrastructure is backward. If watermelon poisoning is caused by taking medicine, the consequences will be disastrous. Medicinal watermelons cannot be eaten and are poisonous. Why do medicinal watermelons grow in the arid and hot desert?

How can we tell the difference between poisonous watermelons growing in deserts where grass is hard to grow? In fact, medicinal watermelons have strong drought tolerance, and they can grow normally with very little water.

There is a cucurbitacin in the medicinal watermelon, which is a kind of cytotoxin, and almost few organisms can resist it. Even the animals living in the desert keep a respectful distance from the medicinal watermelon.

Drought resistance makes the medicinal watermelon have the basic living conditions, and the toxin of the medicinal watermelon becomes its amulet.

Although medicinal watermelons look similar to ordinary watermelons, they are still easy to identify as long as they are carefully distinguished. The watermelon we often eat has uniform and regular lines; the medicinal watermelon is different, with different lines and colors, messy and disorderly.

After opening the medicinal watermelon, it is easier to distinguish. The pulp inside is white floc, which is obviously different from ordinary watermelon.

In fact, the history of humans eating watermelon is only more than 1,000 years. Today's sweet and delicious watermelon had less pulp and a dry taste in the early days.

After long-term hybridization, today's watermelons are getting bigger and bigger, with more flesh and sweeter taste, and there are also seedless watermelons.