Witnessed by: TCM · Unani

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), of the Cucurbitaceae family. Sprawling annual vine with tendrils and lobed leaves; native range: north-east and southern Africa; carried early into Egypt, Arabia, Persia and China. Globally recognized as tarbuz in Hindi, xi gua (西瓜); rind: xi gua pi (西瓜皮) in Chinese, battikh / battikh hindi in Arabic, and water melon in English. The part used is ripe fruit flesh; the green-white rind (xi gua pi); seeds. A great smooth-skinned globe, dark and pale striped without; within, crisp watery crimson flesh, sweet and faintly grassy, cool to the tongue, studded with flat black seeds.

In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.

WATERMELON

IDENTITY

Name

Common: Watermelon
Scientific name: Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
Family: Cucurbitaceae

Form

Part used: ripe fruit flesh; the green-white rind (xi gua pi); seeds

PROPERTIES

Nature

Taste

how the plant declares itself on the tongue

TCM: sweet
Unani: sweet

Temperature

TCM: cold
Unani: cold (2nd degree)

Affinity

where in the body it travels

Organs / channels

TCM: Heart · Stomach · Bladder
Unani: kidneys · bladder · stomach

PRACTICE

Virtue

Actions

TCM: clears summerheat (qing shu re), generates fluids and relieves thirst (sheng jin zhi ke), clears heat and eases irritability, and promotes urination; the rind (xi gua pi) clears heat and promotes urination
Unani: mudirr-e-baul (diuretic) and musakkin (refrigerant), quenches thirst, cleanses the kidneys and bladder and expels gravel; the seed kernels cooling and diuretic

Cautions

Contraindications: spleen-stomach deficiency-cold with loose stools, cold-damp patterns, and cold or convalescent states where the fruit's chill overburdens digestion
Toxicity: non-toxic; excess in the cold-natured provokes diarrhoea and abdominal chill

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