“ POP” goes the watermelon

People are reporting that their watermelons are exploding. Here’s why it happens

Emily Durbin, a Florida resident, posted about one such ominous-looking fruit this week on a Facebook group “Mommy Needs A Recipe!”

Durbin shared a photo of a sizeable watermelon perched on her kitchen counter with white foam oozing out of it.

“We bought this watermelon YESTERDAY at Walmart. My husband left for work around 6 am & when I walked in the kitchen around 9 am, this is what I walked into. The white stuff was a foamy bubbly substance. The yellow juice was chunky & thick. The odor was absolutely FOUL. It reminded me of vomit,” she wrote in the post.

When Durbin picked up the fruit to toss it in the trash, she said she felt “rumbling on the inside” but was perplexed because the watermelon hadn't been around “any heat sources.” Durbin did not respond to a request for comment from TODAY.com.

Many Facebook users commented on Durbin’s post to say they had also experienced an exploding watermelon in recent weeks.

“My melon was on the counter and it must have already been bad when I got it and the next day I came down to an awful smell and rotten melon everywhere it was disgusting and anytime I get something I cut it up right away now,” one wrote.

Another left the following comment: “This happened to me once. It wasn’t leaking yet but when I cut into it it literally exploded. The biggest bang I’ve ever heard and scared the crap out of me.”

Keith Schneider, Ph.D, professor in the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at the University of Florida, tells TODAY.com this isn’t the first time he’s heard of foaming or exploding watermelons.

“This is probably due to the heat. The fruit, if slightly damaged, can begin fermenting. If enough fermentation occurs, which produces gas, enough internal pressure may build up for the watermelon to crack or pop,” Schneider says.

He explains that “excessive summer heat” can wreak havoc on the quality of some produce, calling it an “unexpected consequence of climate change.”

As part of the fermentation process, if certain microorganisms are introduced into the watermelon, they convert sugar into alcohol.

“It’s the same process that happens in beer and wine making. The offshoot of this process is CO2 gas. The thing that puts the bubbles in your beer,” Schneider says.

Foaming watermelons are neat to look at — and great fodder for social media — but they’re not exactly good to eat.

“The watermelon is undergoing decay, so it's best to bring it back to the store and get a replacement or just toss it,” Schneider said.

Reiners also recommends letting your sense of smell guide you in these scenarios.

“Basically, our noses are pretty good at telling us what is safe to eat and if a fruit smells bad, it’s rotting. Trust your nose,” he says.



https://www.today.com/food/news/watermelons-exploding-foaming-rcna100186

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