Type specimens are permanently preserved biological specimens that fix the usage of species names. This method became widespread from 1935 onwards and is now obligatory. We used DNA sequencing of types and more recent collections of wild and cultivated melons to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the genus Citrullus and the correct names for its species. We discovered that the type specime...

The mitochondrial genomes of seed plants are unusually large and vary in size by at least an order of magnitude. Much of this variation occurs within a single family, the Cucurbitaceae, whose genomes range from an estimated 390 to 2,900 kb in size. We sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of Citrullus lanatus (watermelon: 379,236 nt) and Cucurbita pepo (zucchini: 982,833 nt)--the two smallest cha...

Information on the mode of inheritance of powdery mildew resistance in watermelon is important for designing a breeding strategy for the development of new cultivars. Resistance in the watermelon accession PI 270545 was investigated by generation means analysis by crossing it with susceptible PI 267677. The analyses showed involvement of two genes, a recessive resistance gene, pmr-1, and a domi...

BACKGROUND The recent epidemic of diabetes mellitus (DM) in Africa, coupled with rampant poverty, is an indication of the urgent need to develop new efficacious, cheaper and more available drugs to face this growing public health challenge. A number of plants products among which the protein-rich Cucurbitaceae seeds are commonly used in traditional medicine with increasing acclaimed efficacy ag...

Changes of physico-chemical properties such as size, weight, moisture content, total soluble solid (TSS), colour, pH, total acidity and sugar content of red seedless watermelon during storage at room temperature (± 28oC; 70-80% RH) were investigated. The average weight, diameter and length of red seedless watermelon were 5.94 kg, 22.0 cm and 21.8 cm respectively. The length to diameter ratio wa...

Lycopene and citrulline contents of 9 diploids (2X) and their artificially induced autotetraploids (4X) and autotriploids (3X) were determined in mature fruit. Changes in lycopene and citrulline during fruit development was studied using fruit of variety XYXA with three different ploidy levels from 15 to 40 days after pollination (DAP). Polyploids, especially triploids, had higher levels of lyc...

the crude oil, crude protein, crude ash, crude fiber, total phenol and antioxidant activity values, peroxide values, specific gravity, the refraxtive index and  acid value of citrullus lanatus and their oils were determined. fatty acid composition of seeds belong to both watermelon were determined by gas chromotography (gc). these oils are important sources of essential fatty acid, linoleic aci...