Every year, 20% of the watermelon crop never makes it to buyers. Wayne Fish hopes to turn some of this waste into ethanol. (Photo by Gail Banzet)
Every year in the US, more than 750-
million pounds of watermelon rot away
in the fields. Those left behind can’t
be sold because they’re sunburnt, diseased
or damaged, but now scientists in Oklahoma
are working on a way to use the abandoned
fruit. Gail Banzet reports:
Transcript
Every year in the US, more than 750-
million pounds of watermelon rot away
in the fields. Those left behind can’t
be sold because they’re sunburnt, diseased
or damaged, but now scientists in Oklahoma
are working on a way to use the abandoned
fruit. Gail Banzet reports:
Growers say it was a pretty fair season for watermelons in 2009. A lot of ripe, juicy
melons were enjoyed during the summer months, but, every year, 20% of the crop
never makes it to buyers.
(sound of driving)
Research chemist Wayne Fish steers his truck around the USDA’s agriculture research
laboratory in Lane, Oklahoma.
There are 320 acres of different crops and vegetables here, and one acre is dedicated
to watermelons. Workers have already picked the good ones. Those that are left are
discolored, misshapen or damaged by raccoons or birds.
“There’s one where a crow has pecked on it. That melon is over-ripe, so it has
two strikes against it.”
But Wayne Fish says that watermelon can still be used.
“It’ll still make ethanol fine.”
Four years ago, the National Watermelon Association started studying the ethanol
potential of watermelon sugars. When the project showed favorable results, a trial
process began at the research station in Oklahoma. Bob Morrissey is Executive Director
of the National Watermelon Association.
“If you’ve got that fully developed watermelon there, it has all of the components
– the water, the sugar and the fiber – to create ethanol.”
(sound of machines in a lab room)
Back at the research station in a lab, Wayne Fish and his team combine yeast with
watermelon sugars. Hours later, the mixture is fermented and placed in a still.
“By distilling that mixture, one drives the ethanol off together with a small
amount of water. That’s how we enrich the mixture to ultimately 95% ethanol.”
Fish says the project is not an attempt to replace sugar cane or corn for ethanol. This
pilot phase of testing shows wasted watermelons can add some ethanol to the overall
market.
Bob Morrissey at the National Watermelon Association says using the melons could
open up a whole new market for farmers. They could sell the good ones to people and
the bad ones to ethanol plants.
“That farmer could literally harvest his or her entire crop, send it to the ethanol
plant, and at least get something out of it to try and cover their cost instead of
taking a complete loss.”
There are a lot of growers across the country who are worried about wasting melons.
Jim Motes is from Oklahoma. Even though he’s not a huge farmer, he says he’s always
looking for ways to make the most of his crop.
“If they can find a large enough quantity to make it efficient, then it’s a good idea,
because there are a lot of watermelons laying there when the field disked up that
ought to find some use.”
Researchers say watermelon ethanol is drawing a lot of attention. A Texas-based
company Common Sense Agriculture is currently working on a mobile unit that would
process the melon sugars and produce ethanol right in the field.
For The Environment Report, I’m Gail Banzet.