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Still fresh

Photo:AP

Piece of fruit: About 2,100 years old.

Archaeologists digging in Moriyama in western Japan have excavated what they believe to be are the oldest remains of a melon ever found. Based on a radiocarbon analysis, researchers estimate the half-rounded piece of fruit to be about 2,100 years old. The remains are believed to be the oldest of a melon that still has flesh on the rind. Previously, the oldest such find was believed to be the remains found in China that date back to the fourth century A.D., according to loc al media reports. The melon might have been so well-preserved because it was in a vacuum-packed state in a wet layer below the ground, an environment hostile to micro organisms that might otherwise have broken down the remains. Melon seeds have been often found in archaeological digs around the country, but researchers rarely find the remains of melon flesh.

SUBAJAYANTHI WILSON

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