after pollination.
At harvest maturity, fruit were surface sterilized and seed were
manually extracted (seed from each fruit were maintained as a
separate lot), air dried at 25°C for 24 h, and stored at 4°C. To
determine the level of seed infestation by A. citrulli, samples (n =
100 seed) from each lot were subjected to the modified seedling
grow-out assay as described above.