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Watermelon, the quintessential summer fruit, may soon be helping to fuel your car as well as your picnic guests.

西瓜，典型的夏季水果，也许很快就会像你的野餐客一样帮你的油箱加满燃料。

According to a new U.S. government study, juice from unwanted watermelons could be a promising new source for making the biofuel ethanol.

一份新的美国学术研究报告指出，来自那些被丢弃的西瓜汁有望成为生物燃料乙醇的新来源。

Up to a fifth of all watermelons grown each year have odd shapes or scarred rinds that turn off consumers, said study co-author Wayne Fish, a chemist with the Agricultural Research Service in Lane, Oklahoma.

研究报告合著者Wayne Fish（位于俄克拉何马州莱恩市农业研究署的一位化学家）指出，每年有近五分之一的西瓜因为形状怪异或者瓜壳上的伤痕这些卖相原因失去与消费者见面的机会。

Instead of picking the fruit, farmers leave these reject melons on the vine.

农民们并不把这些被丢弃的西瓜摘下来，而是把它们留在藤蔓上。

Unlike the round, red, juicy melons that often grace picnic tables in the summer, up to a fifth of all watermelons produced in the U.S. are scarred or deformed and so are left on the vine, an August 2009 study says.09年8月学术报道：不像野餐桌上那些圆润透红而又多汁的西瓜，美国有多达五分之一的西瓜因为疤痕或怪异的形状被留在勒藤蔓上。

But the sugary juice from those reject melons has promise as a source of the biofuel ethanol, the study authors report.学术报道作者称：这些含糖的果汁有望成为新的生物燃料乙醇的来源。
 

"If you figure a field of watermelon may yield somewhere between 60 and 100 tons per acre of watermelon, a fifth of that can be substantial," Fish said.

“如果你预计1英亩西瓜的产量为60-100吨，那么五分之一的量是相当巨大的。”Fish指出。

When he and colleagues were experimenting with extracting antioxidant compounds from watermelon juice, they realized the waste stream of sugary fluids could be a source of ethanol.

当他和他的同事在进行从西瓜汁中萃取抗氧化化合物的时候，他们发现这些含糖的西瓜汁废液可以成为乙醇的来源。

Mobile Homebrew

移动自产

The researchers brewed several experimental batches of the fruity fuel in the lab and optimized the process to produce about 23 gallons (87 liters) of ethanol from an acre's worth of the unused fruit.

研究者们在实验室内进行了多组果汁燃料酿制试验，并将实验产出提升至每亩废弃西瓜能产生23加仑（87升）的乙醇。

"For average-size growers that have 300 to 1,000 acres [121 to 405 hectares], they may just keep the ethanol themselves and use it in their own production," Fish said.

“根据种植面积的平均大小，种植者一般有300-1000亩（121-405公顷），它们产生的乙醇也许刚好够农场自己生产使用。”Fish说道。

Larger farms could even produce enough fuel to sell.

大的农场甚至可以生产出足够的燃料用来出售。

However, it doesn't make economic sense to haul the unwanted watermelons to a processing facility. Rather, Fish envisions mobile breweries that go from farm to farm.

然而，把这些丢弃的西瓜拖进处理设备中似乎没什么经济意义，更何况Fish设想这些移动自产设备可以从一个农场到另一个农场。

"In terms of the actual process that goes on, it is no different than making homebrew," he said, except on a larger scale and with a few special laboratory tweaks.

“明确的实际过程正在进行中，这和自产自用没有什么区别。”他说道，除非有大规模的生产方案能代替实验室方法。

Watermelon Beer?

西瓜啤酒？

When brewing the watermelon biofuel, the researchers were focused on its energy potential, not flavor. But they couldn't resist sampling the brew.

当进行酿制西瓜生物燃料的实验时，研究者们把焦点放在能源潜力上，而不是味道上。但他们无法抗拒也酿造了一些样本。

"It's not going to kill you, for goodness sake," Fish said.

“看在上帝的份上，它不会杀了你的。”Fish道。

Their process tended to produce fusel oils, which give alcohols an "off" flavor.

他们的实验倾向于制造一种杂醇油，让酒精带有一种“特别”的味道。

"Don't expect to see any watermelon beer at your local tavern anytime soon," Fish said, "at least as produced at Lane, Oklahoma."

“不要期望很快能在当地酒馆里看到任何西瓜啤酒。”Fish在结尾说道。（于俄克拉何马州莱恩市）

Findings published August 26 in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels.

发表于8月26日的Biotechnology for Biofuels杂志

作者：John Roach  National Geographic News

译者：xiaoJack www.fland.cn

图片：Alberto Cassio