All around the world, watermelon is a favorite fruit for many people. It is delicious, water-filled, and very satisfying. Its soft reddish inside is visually appealing and pleasing to eat.
Because of how much water they contain, watermelons are the best fruit to eat on a hot summer’s noon – or in any other hot weather. The fruit’s 92% water composition will keep your body hydrated and your belly filled up. In addition to that, watermelons are packed with a significant amount of relevant minerals and nutrients.
The lycopene content in the fruit has known benefits like; improvement of brain health, lowered risk of eye problems, reduced blood pressure and cholesterol, and more. It also contains a low amount of calories. The fruit has many uses and can be blended along with other ingredients to make a healthy smoothie.
Watermelons are relatively cheap, but their prices could also vary depending on how much they weigh.
If you’re wondering… how much does a watermelon weigh? A watermelon weighs anywhere between 20-25 pounds (the edible interior of the fruit constitutes between 14-18 pounds of the fruit’s total weight).
Watermelons purchased at the store will be weighed on a scale to determine how much money is to be paid. Apart from the general weight range of watermelons given earlier, the different varieties of the fruit have weight ranges that are more specific to them.
What to Know When Weighing Watermelon
Unlike smaller fruit that can be weighed together as a bunch, your watermelon will most likely be weighed individually. Depending on which variety you’re purchasing, you can expect the weight range to differ. We have the crimson sweet, Carolina cross, grey bell, jubilee, and many other varieties of watermelon.
Also, it makes sense that the size of the fruit will affect its weight. This means that smaller watermelons won’t be as heavy as the bigger and fully grown ones. For a better understanding, we’ll be discussing some of the factors that can influence a watermelon’s weight.
Factors that Influence a Watermelon’s Weight
- Genetic Factors: A batch of watermelons of the same species can weigh differently. It doesn’t matter that they’ve been grown on the same soil in the same weather conditions – genetic composition of each watermelon is different and ultimately influences the weight.
- Apart from the fruit’s weight, genetic make-up also influences the fruit’s physical appearance – color, shape, and the likes. If you’ve ever seen any unusually large watermelons, that’s because of their individual gene structure. There are also watermelons that refuse to grow beyond their small size. These combined factors result in the weight differences of watermelons.
- Environmental Factors: As expected, environmental conditions directly affect the weight of watermelons. There are certain environmental conditions that are best for growing watermelons. If the watermelon is grown in an unfavorable environment, it won’t be as healthy as expected and the weight won’t be up to standard.
- Environmental factors include both sunlight and rainfall. In seasons where these factors aren’t naturally available, technological solutions can be used to grow the watermelons. However, you cannot expect out-of-season watermelons to be at the same quality as in-season watermelons.
- Human Factor: When discussing a topic like this, we cannot rule out the human factor. One way or the other, human activity influences the features of watermelons. The farmers growing watermelons have a responsibility to water the plant and see to it that it gets all the sunlight and other nutrients that it needs.
- Watermelon tended to by a negligent individual will not be as healthy as expected. When the watermelon plant is well tended to, it’ll produce delicious and properly sized fruit. So if you ever see any malnourished watermelons, you can factor in negligence on the part of the farmer as one of the reasons for its appearance. Humans can also manipulate natural factors like soil with fertilizers and other growth-boosting chemicals.
There are other factors asides from the ones mentioned above that also affect the size and overall weight of watermelons. However, you can’t expect 2 individual watermelons to have the same exact weight – even their color intensities and shape will slightly differ.
These differences are as a result of the previously mentioned factors. These factors, which include soil, water, pollination, and weather conditions will determine the watermelon’s resistance to disease, color, and ultimately the weight.
There are more than 1200 varieties of watermelon – all of which have varying weights ranging from as low as a pound to 200 pounds!
How Many Pounds of Watermelon Per Person?
If you want to feed a group of people with some refreshing watermelon, you may be wondering just how much watermelon will feed each person. Thanks to weighing scales and simple math, we can determine how many pounds of the fruit can adequately serve one person.
If you take a 20 pound watermelon, slice in 4 equal sides, and cut it up into ¾ inch wedges, you’ll be able to get a little over 60 wedges of taty watermelon fruit. With this calculation, you can conveniently feed about 20 guests 3 wedges each of watermelon fruit.
If you don’t have so many people to feed, you can always purchase a small 5-pound watermelon and avoid any wastage.
Out of the 20-25 pounds that watermelons weigh on the average, about 14-18 pounds is made up of the edible flesh. Knowing this fact is very helpful when you want to purchase the right watermelon size to feed yourself or other people.
Conclusion
Apart from determining price, the weight of a watermelon is useful for accurately determining the proper rations to be served per meal. Simple scales are used at stores to weigh watermelons, and you can even get your own scale to use at home whenever you wish to weigh a watermelon – this will be especially useful for anyone growing watermelons in their yard.
Always keep in mind that based on the earlier discussed factors, the individual weights of watermelons will differ.