Watermelon seeds are the flat, teardrop-shaped seeds of the watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) — usually the glossy black or brown whole seeds spat out of the fruit, but increasingly eaten in their own right: dried and roasted as a salty snack, shelled into pale kernels, or ground into the rich, oily seed sauces and "egusi-like" stews of West and North Africa. Nutty, oily and protein-rich, they are a frugal food won from what is usually discarded.