cantaloupe

Cantaloupe
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Cucumis
Species:	C. melo
Subspecies:	C. melo subsp. melo
Variety:	C. melo var. cantalupensis
Trinomial name
Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis[1] Naudin
Synonyms
Cucumis melo var. reticulatus Naudin[1]

Cantaloupe (also cantaloup, mushmelon, muskmelon, rockmelon or spanspek) refers to a variety of Cucumis melo, a species in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes nearly all melons and squashes. Cantaloupes range in size from 0.5 to 5.0 kilograms (1.1 to 11 lb). Originally, cantaloupe referred only to the non-netted orange-fleshed melons of Europe. However, in more recent usage, it has come to mean any orange-fleshed melon (C. melo).

Cantaloupes have been linked to listeriosis illness caused by Listeria bacteria^[2] that contaminated the fruit while they were being stored and sorted in cold conditions after harvest.^[3] The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the link between cantaloupe Listeria contamination and human sewage sludge that may have become airborne from a nearby farm.^[4]

Etymology

The name is derived, via French, from the Italian Cantalupo which was formerly a papal country seat near Rome. Tradition has it, that this is where it was first cultivated in Europe, on its introduction from Ancient Armenia.^[5] Its first known usage in English dates from 1739 in The Gardeners Dictionary Vol. II by Scottish botanist Philip Miller (1691–1771).^[5]

Cantaloupes by region

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The European cantaloupe is lightly ribbed, with a gray-green skin that looks quite different from that of the North American cantaloupe.

Macro photo of the skin of a North American cantaloupe.

The North American cantaloupe, common in the United States, Mexico, and in some parts of Canada, has a net-like (or reticulated) skin covering. It is a round melon with firm, orange, moderately sweet flesh and a thin, reticulated, light-brown rind. Varieties with redder and yellower flesh exist but are not common in the U.S. market.^{[citation needed]}

Cantaloupe or rockmelon from Australia and its cross section

Rockmelons on display in a fruit store

Origin

The cantaloupe originated in India and Africa;^[6] and was first cultivated by the Egyptians, followed by the Greeks and Romans.^[7]

Production and uses

Cantaloupes on sale in Japan for 2800 yen each (Roughly 33.28 USD - based on currency rates September 2010)

Because they are descended from tropical plants, and tend to require warm temperatures throughout a relatively long growing period, cantaloupes grown in temperate climates are frequently started indoors, and grown indoors for 14 days or longer, before being transplanted outdoors.

Cantaloupes are often picked, and shipped, before fully ripening. Postharvest practices include treatment with a sodium hypochlorite wash to prevent mold growth and Salmonella growth. This treatment, because it can mask the melon's musky aroma, can make it difficult for the purchaser to judge the relative quality of different cantaloupes.

Cantaloupe is normally eaten as a fresh fruit, as a salad, or as a dessert with ice cream or custard. Melon pieces wrapped in prosciutto are a familiar antipasto.

Because the surface of a cantaloupe can contain harmful bacteria—in particular, Salmonella ^[8]—it is always a good idea to wash a melon thoroughly before cutting and consumption. Only store the fruit for less than three days after cutting to prevent risk of Salmonella or other bacterial pathogens.

A moldy cantaloupe in a Peoria, Illinois market in 1941 was found to contain the best and highest quality penicillin, after a worldwide search.^[9]

Nutrition

Cantaloupes also are an excellent source of vitamin C.

Footnotes

See also

• G.W. Swink, inventor of the cantaloupe crate

References

• "Cucumis melo". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=22362. Retrieved September 3, 2002. 
• Ensminger, Audrey H (1995). The Concise Encyclopedia of Foods & Nutrition. CRC Press: ISBN 0-8493-4455-7.
• Melons and Watermelons in the Classical Era, Alfred C. Andrews, Osiris, Vol. 12, (1956), pp. 368–375
• http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Cantaloupe_-_Origin/id/62238hi

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cucumis melo cantaloupe group

• Nutritional and Historical Information
• MSNBC Article on Farming of Hybridization That Mentions Cantaloupes
• Sorting Cucumis names – Multilingual multiscript plant name database
• Growing cantaloupes in the home garden

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