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Chinese Watermelons ‘Explode,’ Maybe From Chemical

By Joshua Fellman - document.write(dateFormat(new Date(1305671174000),"mmm d, yyyy h:MM TT Z"));May 18, 2011 5:26 AM GMT+0700

Farmers clear out watermelons that had bursted from their rented greenhouse in Danyang city, Jiangsu province, China. Source: AP Photo



Watermelons in eastern China’s Jiangsu province burst in the fields, possibly because of a growth-promoting chemical and sudden rainfall after a drought, the country’s official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.
More than 700 mu (47 hectares or 115 acres) of melons in the Danyang city area were ruined, Xinhua said. Wang Liangju, a professor at Nanjing Agricultural University, said the accelerant, forchlorfenuron, may have caused some bursting, even if most farmers said they hadn’t used it, according to the news service. Wang said heavy rainfall may have caused the rest of the bursts.
“I have never seen this phenomenon,” said Bob Morrissey, executive director of the U.S. National Watermelon Association in Lakeland, Florida. “Watermelons do not burst only from rainfall.”
Morrissey said rain only causes mildew and cosmetic cracks inside melons. The problem was likely caused by forchlorfenuron, used in the U.S. only on grapes and kiwifruit, he said.
China, concerned about the potential for contamination scandals to trigger social unrest, is stepping up food-safety enforcement. Local-government officials in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong province will be evaluated on their control of food safety, Xinhua reported on May 16.
Consumers are concerned that supersized fruit contains chemical residues making them unsafe to eat, so Wang suggested China establish a produce-tracking system to show consumers the amount of pesticides and fertilizers used on their food, the news agency reported yesterday.
About 10 percent of watermelons burst normally, with the rate depending on variety and weather, Xinhua said yesterday citing Xu Jinhua, of the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences.