Watermelon peel is actually a great health remedy.

Introduction: As summer arrives, watermelon becomes the fruit of choice for most people. After eating the flesh, many people discard the rind. In fact, the rind has many uses. For instance, in ancient times, people used the buoyancy of watermelon rinds to make lanterns for floating on rivers. It can also be cooked into dishes, which are refreshing and delicious, and it also has significant medicinal effects.

The most important use of watermelon rind is as a medicine to prevent and treat diseases, truly embodying the value of "nothing is waste." In medical texts, watermelon rind is also known as "Xigua Cui," "Xigua Qing," or "Xigua Cui Yi." The part used for medicine is the outermost layer of the watermelon's skin. It has a mild scent and a bland taste, making it an excellent remedy for clearing heat, relieving summer heat, quenching thirst, and promoting urination. It is often used to treat summer heat-induced vexation and thirst, scanty urination, and sores in the mouth and on the tongue. The "Danxi Xinfa" records using the ash from burnt watermelon rind to "treat severe mouth sores," and the "Ben Hui Yan" contains a case study of using its ash to fill tooth sockets to relieve toothache.

Sweet and Sour Watermelon Rind

A white crystalline substance made by mixing watermelon rind with mirabilite is called "Xigua Shuang" in pharmacology and is a primary medicine in dentistry. Its function is to treat ailments such as throat wind, throat obstruction, mouth sores, and dental caries. It is typically used externally by grinding it into a powder and blowing it onto the throat, or taken orally by mixing it into herbal decoctions. In the medical text "Hou Sha Zheng Gai Yao," the "Yu Yao Shi," a long-lasting and effective formula for reducing inflammation and swelling and treating throat swelling with white, putrefying coating, is made with Xigua Shuang as the main ingredient. Similarly, the "Gua Shuang San" from "Zhi Hou Jie Yao," used to treat diphtheria, is another enduring formula for throat diseases with Xigua Shuang as its core.

Stir-fried Watermelon Rind with Edamame

In daily life, the principle of "nothing is waste" applies to fruit and vegetable peels everywhere. For example, winter melon peel can treat urticaria, lumbar muscle strain, and expel roundworms; cucumber peel can treat diarrhea, dysentery, and is used for beauty care; papaya peel can treat beriberi and remove dampness and itching; apple peel can treat nausea and excessive phlegm; raw pear peel can treat excessive heart fire and excessive phlegm; persimmon peel can stop swelling and pain and frequent urination; banana peel can treat hemorrhoids and bloody stools; longan peel can treat dizziness and expel pathogenic wind; and sunflower seed peel can treat tinnitus. Some of these are also important traditional Chinese medicinal herbs.

Cold-dressed Watermelon Rind