The genome of the most ancient plant in history has been found. It tasted disgusting

The genome of the oldest plant in history was obtained from the seeds of a Stone Age watermelon that grew in the Sahara. Them

Stone Age shepherds ate it, but in ancient times it was not so tasty.

Watermelon seeds 6,000 years old have been discoveredin the 1990s during archaeological excavations of the Ouan Muhuggiag cave in the Sahara, now the territory of Libya. Due to the dry, salty air in the cave, the specimens were well preserved. So scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Garden, UK, sequenced their DNA.

A genome study revealed that the seeds were from wild watermelon, one of Africa's oldest crops. As the study authors write, the berry tasted “disgustingly bitter.”

As part of the study, biologists sequencedgenomes of dozens of watermelon species from the Kew Garden collection. It turned out that the shepherds deliberately collected or even cultivated bitter berries. This is because their seeds are rich in edible fats and are easy to store and transport. They did not eat the pulp.

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