Ethanol could be a new by-product from the process of making functional ingredients from watermelons.
Waste melon mass left over from the production of functional ingredients could soon be used to produce ethanol, it has been revealed.
Nutraceutical business and farming publication Delta Farm Press reports the work of Wayne Fish, a chemist at the Agricultural Research Service South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory.
The laboratory usually investigates watermelons as a potential source of functional ingredients including citrulline and lycopene, a red pigment also found in tomatoes.
But Mr Fish is looking into ways of handling the leftover watermelon, such as using enzymes and chemicals to break down the rind.
The remaining fruit can then be used in ethanol production - with 0.7 pounds (0.32 kg) of ethanol obtained from an average 20-pound (9-kg) watermelon.
Delta Farm Press explains that the ethanol is derived from the sugars in the fruit, with 1.4 pounds (0.64 kg) of sweet carbohydrate in the rind and flesh of the typical watermelon.
