Cutting open a watermelon only to discover large cracks or hollow spaces inside can be surprising, and it’s easy to assume the fruit has gone bad. In reality, these internal splits—often called “hollow heart”—are fairly common and usually develop while the watermelon is growing in the field.

Hollow heart is most often caused by uneven growing conditions, such as rapid changes in temperature, inconsistent watering, or incomplete pollination during the early stages of the fruit’s development. These factors can cause the flesh to separate as the watermelon grows, leaving cracks or cavities inside.

In most cases, a watermelon with hollow heart is still perfectly safe to eat as long as the fruit smells fresh, tastes normal, and shows no signs of spoilage such as mold, slime, fermentation, or an unpleasant odor. The texture near the cracks may be slightly softer or less crisp, but the fruit itself is generally not harmful because of the internal splitting alone.

However, if the watermelon has a sour smell, discoloration, mold, excessive liquid, or a fermented taste, it should be discarded. Those are signs that the fruit has spoiled, regardless of whether cracks are present. Always use your senses to check freshness before eating any cut fruit.

Seeing cracks inside a watermelon doesn’t automatically mean you should throw it away. More often than not, they are simply a natural result of how the fruit developed. A quick inspection for freshness is all it takes to decide whether it’s still enjoyable to eat or whether it’s time to replace it.