Farmers in Hokkaido, Japan produced new round and juicy fruit called “lemon melon” that tastes sweet like a melon and also slightly sour like a lemon.
It resembles a watermelon but lacks the stripes, and the inside is white. According to accounts, the texture of the fruit begins crisp, like a pear, but softens as it ripens, so there are numerous ways to enjoy it.
Five farmers in Hokkaido are growing the new fruit in small amounts.
Suntory Flowers, the Japanese horticultural business that produced the fruit, told Japan Today that it bred the unique product from a species of melon brought from outside and has been working on it for the past five years.
The current product, which is propagated using lemons, is the result of innumerable research on cultivation methods and harvest timings, and this is the first year that they are available for sale.
According to the Suntory website, the melon is “a perfect reward dessert of hot summer with refreshing acidity”.
This year, the company is expecting to cultivate about 3,800 lemon melons, which will be sold in Sapporo supermarkets until the end of August. They currently retail for 3,220 yen ($22) each.
This is the latest addition to Japan’s luxury fruit market, which includes items such as white strawberries, square-shaped watermelons, the Dekopon citrus, a hybrid of mandarin and oranges, as well as Ruby Roman grapes and Miyazaki mangoes, the most expensive in the world.
