Q 01/05

Botanically, the watermelon fruit is a type of berry with a hard rind. What is that kind of fruit called?

A) A pepo

B) A drupe

C) A pome

D) A hesperidium

Answer · why

A) A pepo

The same term covers cucumbers, pumpkins and squash, all in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae.

Q 02/05

Watermelon fruit is roughly what percentage water?

A) 91%

B) 94%

C) 97%

D) 99%

Answer · why

A) 91%

About 6% is sugars, with almost no fat or protein; early farmers stored the fruit as a water source for dry seasons.

Q 03/05

The modern watermelon was first domesticated in which country?

A) China

B) Mexico

C) Sudan

D) India

Answer · why

C) Sudan

Kordofan melons from Sudan are its closest relatives and share the loss of the bitterness gene; it may have been cultivated in the Nile Valley by 2340...

Q 04/05

Wild watermelon seeds about 5,000 years old were found at Uan Muhuggiag, in which country?

A) Egypt

B) Sudan

C) Israel

D) Libya

Answer · why

D) Libya

A 2022 study traced 6,000-year-old seeds from the Libyan desert to the egusi seeds of Nigeria.

Q 05/05

A 4,000-year-old tomb image of an apparent watermelon was found in which civilisation?

A) Egypt

B) Sumer

C) Minoan Crete

D) Harappa

Answer · why

A) Egypt

Those early melons were not sweet; dessert watermelons spread across the Mediterranean in Roman times.