The Discovery of the Breeding of Seedless Watermelon

The discovery of seedless watermelons (Citrullus vulgaris) succeeded in 2 phases, i.e. hormone inducing parthenocarpic fruits and cross breeding of triploids. In the USA in 1938, Dr. C. Y. Wang et al., treated watermelon pistils with growth hormones to get parthenocarpic fruits. These were the first seedless watermelons ever produced. Dr. H. Hikara and his collaborators began studying in Japan in 1939 and triploid seedless watermelons were produced in 1942. Seedless watermelons made its debut in the world market in 1950. Today, seedless watermelons are still produced in this way.