日本农民培育出酸酸甜甜的“柠檬西瓜”

炎炎夏日最适合吃甜甜的西瓜和酸酸的柠檬了，日本一家园艺公司花了五年时间将西瓜和柠檬“二合一”，培育出了酸甜可口的“柠檬西瓜”。

The Lemon Melon is a newly-developed type of melon that apparently combines the sweetness and aroma of the melon with a slight sourness reminiscent of a lemon.

柠檬西瓜是新开发的西瓜品种，兼具西瓜的香甜和柠檬的微酸口感。

Japanese horticulture company Suntory Flowers reportedly spent five years developing the lemon melon, breeding it from a type of melon originally imported from overseas. The final product, which is apparently blended with actual lemons, is juicy and sweet like a melon but slightly sour like a lemon, making the perfect fruit to enjoy on a hot summer day.

日本三得利花卉园艺公司据称花了五年时间用一种进口西瓜的种子培育出了柠檬西瓜。和柠檬杂交后培育出的成品瓜既像西瓜般多汁甘甜但又有柠檬般的微酸，非常适合在炎热的夏日食用。

The lemon melon has the usual round shape of a melon, but its rind lacks the characteristic stripes and striation of a melon, and has white flesh. The texture is comparable to that pears, but it softens as it ripens and ends up like that of Yubari melons. There are currently only five farmers in Hokkaido growing lemon melons, and they are expected to grow about 3,800 lemon melons this year.

柠檬西瓜和普通西瓜一样是圆形，但是外皮没有西瓜的标志性条纹，果肉呈白色。口感和梨类似，但是熟透了的柠檬西瓜会更软，比较接近夕张蜜瓜。目前北海道只有5个农民在种植柠檬西瓜，他们今年预计会种出大约3800个柠檬西瓜。

Lemon melons have already hit Japanese supermarket shelves, selling for around 3,220 yen a piece. Those lucky enough to have tried it, can’t stop raving about its delicious taste.

柠檬西瓜已经在日本超市上架销售，一片瓜的价格大概为3220日元（约合人民币166元）。有幸尝过柠檬西瓜的人对这种美味的瓜赞不绝口。

"It has a faint sourness like a lemon, but the strong sweetness of a melon. It’s delicious,” a reporter from HBC News said.

《北海道放送》的记者称：“有柠檬的微酸，又和西瓜一样很甜。太好吃了。”

"It has a good balance of sweet and sour. It would be the perfect fruit for a hot day,” another person said.

另一个人表示：“甜和酸的比例恰到好处，堪称热天消暑的完美水果。”

The lemon melon is the latest addition to Japan’s popular luxury fruit market, which includes edible wonders like the world’s most expensive watermelon, square-shaped watermelons, Ruby Roman, the world’s most expensive grapes, and white jewels, Japan’s iconic white strawberries.

柠檬西瓜是日本备受欢迎的奢侈水果市场上的最新产品，日本曾经推出的珍奇水果包括世界上最昂贵的西瓜——方形西瓜、世界上最昂贵的葡萄——罗马红宝石葡萄，还有日本经典的白色草莓——白宝石草莓。