Wild about melon

Scientists at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have developed a product you never knew you needed: the reduced-calorie watermelon. While watermelon is traditionally seen as diet friendly, the researchers were concerned that the fruit encourages overeating. Team leader Shmuel Wolf said: "The problem with watermelon is that, unlike other fruit, one tends to eat a lot, and the calories accumulate." The researchers found a strain of melon that grows wild in the Sinai desert and north Africa that has a naturally high level of fructose and a bitter taste. They bred it to create a fruit with a sweet flavour and just 32 calories per four ounces compared with 54 calories per four ounces of a traditional melon.