LANE, Okla. (September 7, 2009)--An Oklahoma-based chemist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture says sugars in the juice of watermelons could be used to make ethanol.

Wayne Fish, who works with the department's research service laboratory in Lane, Okla., says his research began two years ago during a study on how to enrich watermelons for their effect on health.

Watermelon producers asked researchers if they could find a use for cull or discarded watermelons, which Fish says led to the discovery.

Fish said the first step toward using watermelons for ethanol "is to invent a mobile fermentation unit" that could be moved from grower to grower.

Such a unit might not be far from completion.

Jim Rausch, the president of Common Sense Agriculture, a Texas-based company, said he hopes to finish a pilot project next year that would simplify the ethanol processing sequence.