The chemicals in watermelon work much like Viagra. Just a week after the annual watermelon thump celebration in Luling, there's something new that watermelon growers can hang their hat on.

The rind on watermelons has some of the same effects as Viagra.  The director of Texas A&M's fruit and vegetable improvement center has discovered that watermelons have an ingredient that delivers Viagra like effects and may even increase libido.

There is a catch. The phyto-nutrient called citrulline that relaxes the blood Vessels is found in highest concentrations in the part you generally don't eat - the watermelon rind.

Rinds are used in watermelon pickles. They're Kelly Allen's specialty, "My husband loves these. I don't know if its because he eats these or not but he doesn't have a problem."

Scientists are working to breed watermelons with higher concentrations of Citruline in the flesh which may change Luling's image from being known for watermelons, to something else. The researcher who conducted the study says the watermelon rind also has a  beneficial effect on the heart. But no one seems very interested in that aspect right now.