If all you’ve ever done with watermelon seeds is pile them off to the side of a plate or spit them with gusto to see how far they’d fly, Forca Foods wants to convince you to do something entirely different: Eat them.

Its Forca Foods Energy Bites are made from watermelon seeds. In fact, they’re the first of only five ingredients used to make these one-bite cubes. The other ingredients are dates, oats, maple syrup, and fruit or coffee, depending on the variety.

Company Founder Guilherme Maia Silva studied plant sciences at the University of California at Davis, where he wondered why we were making snacks out of such water-intensive crops and ingredients as almonds, walnuts, and dairy. It’s a question that’s only gotten more attention now that California is in yet another year of deep drought.

So, a year ago, he launched his snack that’s centered around watermelon seeds, which, he says, use 94 percent less water than pistachios, 78 percent less water than almonds, and 11 percent less water than dairy. Not only that, watermelon seeds also contain iron, zinc, magnesium, and potassium.

Named for the word, “strength” in Portuguese, the energy bites are also organic, vegan and gluten-free.

I had a chance to try samples of its three flavors: Strawberry, Banana, and Coffee.

The energy bites are soft, moist, and slightly chewy. The watermelon seeds add a slight grittiness here and there. And yes, you can detect a subtle watermelon taste.

The Strawberry has the fruitiest profile, with the berries and watermelon flavors really shining through. The Banana is more subtle but also sports an under-note of berry-fruitiness. The Coffee has a big hit of coffee bean taste with an earthy, bitter edge, giving it a little touch of savoriness.

The energy bites come in pocket-sized 2-ounce resealable pouches, which makes them great to take on the go. In fact, I took them along on a recent hike. It was very convenient to just grab a cube or two to recharge while stowing the rest for later. It definitely did the trick, too, to give me a boost to finish my climb.

Each pouch contains two servings (4 cubes per person) at 120 calories each. Per serving, there’s 1 gram of saturated fat, 14 grams of total carbohydrates, 4 grams of protein, a smidge of iron, and no cholesterol or sodium.

The energy bites are available on the Forca Foods site for $19.96 for a pack of four pouches.