Farmers in Hokkaido, Japan, have created a new fruit.
It’s currently being called “lemon melon” as it is round and juicy, tastes sweet like a melon and also slightly sour like a lemon.
It looks like a watermelon, but without the stripes, while the inside is white. According to reports, the texture of the fruit starts out crisp like a pear, but as it ripens, it gets much softer, so there are several different ways to enjoy it.
The new fruit is being cultivated in limited quantities by five farmers in Hokkaido.
According to Japan Today, Suntory Flowers – the Japanese horticulture company that developed the fruit – said it bred the unique offering from a type of melon originally imported from overseas and have been working on it for the past five years.
The current product, which is propagated with lemons, is the result of countless experiments on cultivation methods and harvest times, and this is the first year that they can sell them.
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.
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
