New “miniball” watermelon variety is small enough to fit in your hand
New “miniball” watermelon variety is small enough to fit in your hand
2023-08-22
The watermelon has a new variety, and it’s travel-sized. The new “miniball” watermelon is small enough to fit in your hand. Weighing in at one thirtieth of a giant watermelon, farmers say it’s the perfect choice for small families and single people. The new watermelon is a bit different in various ways. You can even eat its skin! Let’s go to the Chiayi farm where it’s been developed to hear more.
This watermelon looks like it’s under the wrong end of a telescope. You can place it neatly in the palm of your hand: unexpectedly cute.
Cut it open and the flesh is red and juicy as normal. This new variety, “Miniball,” was developed by Chiayi’s Known-You Seed Company
Member of public
It’s a different taste, crunchy and sweet.
The miniball’s skin can be eaten for a crunchy and juicy snack. Compared to a normal-sized watermelon, the miniball is just the size of a baseball. It’s an eight to 10 on the sweetness scale, and weighs just one thirtieth of a giant red watermelon. Although slightly less sweet than the average watermelon, children love it. They can eat a whole miniball in one go.
Huang Chih-hui
Liujiao Township vegetable marketing class leader
When a small family eats this, the children will prefer it, and the adults will also find it a novelty. For bigger ones you can go more to high-end markets.
Here on the farm, unlike in other watermelon fields, the miniball is grown on trellises in a greenhouse. You can get three watermelons from one plant, and harvest another generation every 50 days or so. Each miniball weighs about 550 to 650 grams. They’re aimed at the high-end fruit market.
Huang Chih-hui
Liujiao Township vegetable marketing class leader
On average, one about this size will fall in the NT$100 range, slightly bigger would be NT$150, and they’re quite popular with consumers. So we will gradually expand the area we’re growing them in.
Small families and single people are a huge demographic in Taiwan now, and that means there could be big demand for small watermelons like these. So far, giftboxes have proven popular, as consumers opt for a refreshing fruit that they can finish in one sitting.
迷你小西瓜一手就能掌握 皮薄肉多能連皮吃
2023-08-22
夏天民眾愛吃西瓜消暑，但你看過只有壘球大小的迷你西瓜嗎？重量只有一般紅肉西瓜的30分之1，雖然尺寸小，但皮薄肉多、還能連皮一起吃，受到小家庭的喜愛。
西瓜就像照了縮小燈，竟然變小了，一手就能掌握，迷你尺寸真的好可愛。
一刀切下，鮮紅果肉看了超消暑，這是由嘉義農友種苗公司，研發的新品種Miniball迷你西瓜。
[[民眾]]
“不一樣的口感，然後很脆又很甜”
迷你西瓜能連皮一起吃，爽脆又多汁，實際跟傳統西瓜比一比，迷你西瓜只有壘球大小，甜度大約8到10度，重量只有紅肉大西瓜的30分之1，雖然沒有大西瓜這麼甜，但迷你尺寸，連小朋友也能1次吃完1顆。
[[六腳蔬菜洋香瓜產銷班班長 黃志輝]]
“小家庭在吃這個，就小朋友會比較喜歡，大人也會覺得很驚豔，比較大顆的也可以往高端市場”
實際到果園看看，有別於一般西瓜種植，迷你西瓜採用溫室懸掛的方式，1株可以採收3顆，大約50天採收一次，每顆瓜的重量平均550至650公克，專門鎖定水果高端市場。
[[六腳蔬菜洋香瓜產銷班班長 黃志輝]]
“平均像這種大小差不多落在100元，再大一點點就150元，蠻讓消費大眾喜愛，所以我們往後也陸陸續續，把種植面積擴大”
現在小家庭居多，單身人口也不少，迷你西瓜不用擔心吃不完，禮盒上市超搶手，夏天消暑，又多了新選擇。
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