The effect of watermelon beverage ingestion on fatigue index in young-male, recreational football players

Background: Football players often experience muscle fatigue leading to impaired performance in the middle of the game. Watermelon contains citrulline which may detox ammonia and lactic acid in the urea cycle thus could help relieve muscle fatigue. Objectives: This study analyzed the effect of watermelon beverage ingestion on fatigue index (FI) in young-male, recreational football players. Methods: A randomized, 2-periods crossover design involving 26 young-male, recreational football players aged 15-17 years was performed. They consumed 500 mL of watermelon beverage in 1 of the 2 periods, and 500 mL of red sucrose syrup as placebo in the other for 7 days respectively. Running-based anaerobic sprint test (RAST) was conducted to measure FI, a day before and on the seventh day of the intervention. Results: Consuming 500 mL of watermelon beverage for 7 days decreased FI significantly (P = 0.001); however, placebo ingestion for 7 days had no significant effect in changing FI (P = 0.495). Conclusions: Watermelon beverage ingestion could relieve muscle fatigue in young-male, recreational football players. They are advised to consume 500 mL of watermelon beverage prior and until the end of the match session for 7 consecutive days to help relieving muscle fatigue and reaching the highest performance.