I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and enjoyable 4th of July. Let’s all remember what we are celebrating. I will be doing BBQ in the backyard with my children and the price of gas has made it easier to stay at home to celebrate.
By BARRY SHLACHTER
barry@star-telegram.com
This is not an Aggie joke.
Someday watermelons might have Viagra-like properties, researchers at Texas A&M University predicted Monday. That said, much study and much breeding remain. One problem is that the beneficial ingredient in good-eating varieties — citrulline — is now mainly found in the rind. Researchers such as A&M's Steve King are trying to find melon with citrulline in the fruit's flesh.
"We will have to screen thousands and thousands of watermelon until we find it," King said in a call from College Station. "And when we do, it might not be good eating. So through crossbreeding, we will have to move it into melons that are.”
Slices or juice would then have to be fed to human volunteers for rounds of tests. And frankly, millions in yet-to-be-unearthed funding would be needed
Remarkable progress has been made in the effort to harvest two of California's billion-dollar-plus crops mechanically — citrus and lettuce. If the citrus harvester proves itself useful, it can probably be applied to a range of tree fruits that have persistently defied harvest by machines.
Remarkable progress has been made in the effort to harvest two of California's billion-dollar-plus crops mechanically — citrus and lettuce. If the citrus harvester proves itself useful, it can probably be applied to a range of tree fruits that have persistently defied harvest by machines.
