Astrid Ika Paramitha, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Brawijaya (FP UB), has successfully found something rare in the world of horticulture: black melon. This finding is the result of her dissertation research and makes Indonesia the second country in the world to have a black melon variety, after France with the “Noir Des Carmes” variety.
The black melon was developed in a greenhouse facility owned by the Madukismo I Farmers Group in Permanu Village, Pakisaji District, Malang. There, Astrid showed thousands of melon plants from her research, with various unique shapes and colors such as green, yellow, oval, and even square. However, among all of them, there were 13 melon plants that stood out because of their black color.
Astrid began the process by giving a dose of gamma ray radiation to the selected melon seeds. This process was carried out in Batan, Jakarta, and continued with seed selection and planting, which resulted in various genetic mutations in the plant. Initially, she targeted to get a melon with a bottle green color, but instead found a black melon.
After her discovery, Astrid searched for information about the existence of black melon in Indonesia through various parties, including plant variety protection experts and fellow melon breeders, but did not find a similar type. In the world, there is only one other black melon variety, namely “Noir Des Carmes” from France, which has a shape like a cantaloupe with a bottle green color and orange flesh of fruit.
Astrid then gave names to her two favorite genetic candidates: “Broken White” for the white spray black melon, and “Sawwad Melon” for the shiny black melon. The name “Sawwad” is taken from Arabic which means “becoming black”.
The black melon developed by Astrid has a number of advantages, such as being resistant to disease, long shelf life, a sweet taste with a sweetness level (Brix) reaching 15, and a crunchy fruit texture. “Genetically, this melon already has dominant traits,” explained the recipient of the LPDP RI scholarship.
Currently, the candidate for the new variety is still in the consolidation stage before being officially published as a new variety. This finding not only adds to the wealth of melon plant varieties in Indonesia, but also serves as proof that research in the field of plant breeding in the country has the potential to compete internationally. Astrid hopes that this black melon can soon be recognized as a superior Indonesian variety, bringing the name of Universitas Brawijaya and Indonesia to the world stage. (AST/UB PR/ Trans. Iir)
