ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI—According to a statement released by Washington University in St. Louis, analysis of DNA recovered from ancient melon seeds recovered in southeastern China suggests that the fruit originated in South Asia and its flesh was not as sweet as that of modern melons. The melon seeds, which was conducted by Susanne Renner and Xinyi Liu of Washington University in St. Louis and an international team of researchers, were unearthed at the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1279) port of Shuomen Gugang. Porcelain and remnants of imported fruits, including grapes, olives, lychee, and kiwi, were also recovered during the excavation. The scientists determined that the melon seeds did not come from locally domesticated plants. They hypothesized that the melons either originated to the north of China and carried along a northern Silk Road route, or came from south of China and were traded along tea trade routes. “Both corridors are historically plausible, as demonstrated by the movement of other food resources,” Liu said. But archaeological evidence points to a southern route for melon, he explained. “The earliest melon remains in China have been recovered from Han and pre-Han royal tombs in southern China, predating comparable finds from northern ‘Silk Road’ sites by approximately 800 to 1,000 years,” he said. The study also suggests that the melons had a yellow peel, light-green flesh, and a mildly sweet taste. “The light-green color resonates with the fine-toned color of Chinese jade and with the glazes of celadon porcelain, both highly valued in East Asian aesthetic traditions,” Liu said. The popularity of the color and shape may reflect the melon’s symbolic fertility and abundance, he concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PNAS. To read about archaeological traces of melons, berries, and more, go to "A Passion for Fruit."
