How to choose and eat safely?

Watermelon has many nutritional values, preventing summer sunstroke

Around May and June every year, when summer comes, it is also the time to harvest melons. This is a fruit that is grown a lot in our country and has nutritional value, good for health, especially in hot weather conditions.

Colonel, physician Bui Hong Minh (Eastern Medicine Association of Ba Dinh district, Hanoi) said that, in terms of oriental medicine, melon has cold, sweet taste, helps to quench thirst, except for troubles, ventilation and diuretic. . In hot summer days, eating melons can prevent sunburn. In addition, melon is a low-sugar, low-calorie fruit, so people who want to lose weight and avoid obesity can use it very well.

Regarding nutritional value, studies have shown that in 100g of melon contains 95% water, 0.60% protein, 0.11% fat, 3.72% starch, 0.33% fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C and many other minerals.

Watermelon is a fruit that has many effects on the body in summer days. (Illustration)

Not only in melon meat, herbalist Bui Hong Minh also advises that the melon seeds also have a very good effect on health, people should not discard the seeds when eating. Accordingly, melon seeds have a sweet taste, cool properties, regulating effects in the abdomen, clearing waste, laxative, treating hematopoietic disorders in the colon, treating dry cough or constipation.

What to pay attention to to choose a safe melon?

A problem many people wonder about when eating melons is the risk of infection or easy absorption of toxins during the care, collection and preservation process. Because melons when ripe often have cracks and are easily attacked by insects, so the risk of spraying preservatives and stimulating before to prevent insects, as well as to ripen at the same time is completely possible.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh – An expert in biotechnology and food said that people’s worries are not unfounded, because the melons are soft and cracked when ripe, so they are susceptible to insects. bacteria attack. In addition, it is from these cracks that if in the process of storage, chemicals are not allowed by the authorities, it is very easy to cause poisoning.

According to the advice of Assoc. Thinh, when choosing to buy melons, it is best to choose fruits that are just ripe, especially those that have thin, smooth hairs on the outside, with a typical aroma of melons.

Only choose melons that bloom with stretch marks and have a thin, smooth outer coat. Illustration.

Because the melons that have lost their thin, smooth outer coat are likely to have been soaked and washed through chemicals. In addition, when buying melons, you should choose those that are just ripe, not too soft. Do not choose fruit with broken cracks, should only choose fruit with slightly cracked skin. The fruits with cracks are often overripe and easy to be penetrated by insects, laid eggs, contaminated with dirt, etc., unsafe to eat.

This expert also recommends, in case of suspicion of melon having chemicals, people can try it by simply putting it in a plastic bag or box and then tying or sealing it, then opening it up after a while. If you see a pungent smell, you should not eat it because the fruit may have chemical residues.

Although melon is good for health, experts recommend that people with bad stomach, stomach bloating, dilute stools … should not eat because it is easier to have abdominal pain and diarrhea. Before peeling melon, you should wash your hands to avoid infection and dirt. With peeled melon, it must be stored in the refrigerator or in a cool, clean place to avoid flies. It is best to eat as much as you can, do not peel or store melon overnight because this ripe fruit is easy to ferment and cause spoilage.