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Watermelon seeds don't need legs to travel
 Q: Why does the center of a watermelon taste sweeter than the rest of it? --Shannon Z., 5 year old, first grade,
Lawrenceville, New Jersey
A: "The center of a watermelon is termed the 'heart,' and is sweeter ..., probably because it begins to ripen from
the middle," says Dan Lineberger of Texas A&M Aggie Horticulture.
[Jerry Parsons, Aggie Horticulture] The sweet red pulp crammed with black seeds tempts us.
"Sugar is a high energy source and animals favor the taste because it fuels their bodies," says Robert Miller, forestry
professor at the University of Wisconsin. "The watermelon wants to spread its seeds, and it does so by having the
animals eat the sugary pulp around the seeds. If the animal does not crush the seed while eating it, it passes through
the animal and is deposited far from its source in a mound of fertilizer (thanks to the animal)."
Miller explains watermelon smarts: "evolution."
(Answered by April Holladay, science correspondent, January 16, 2002)
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