melon

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Charentais melon

A fruit originally from India or Africa that belongs to the same family as cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, watermelons and bottle gourds. Winter melons are distinguished from summer melons by their oblong shape and better 
keeping qualities. 


Summer melons 

The true cantaloupe with orange flesh is recognized by its rough, marked ridges; it is rarely found in North America. The most widely cultivated variety is the Charentais melon. What North Americans call "cantaloupe" is in fact a variety of muskmelon.

The muskmelon is usually not ribbed, although several hybrids combine the characteristics of the cantaloupe and the muskmelon. These very flavorful melons have salmon-pink or orange-yellow flesh.


Winter melons 

The Honeydew melon has a cream-yellow rind when mature. Its green flesh is 
very sweet.

The Prince melon resembles the Honeydew melon but has orange-colored flesh.

The Casaba melon has creamy white flesh, which is less perfumed than other melons.

The Persian melon, when mature, is covered with a brownish netting pattern. It has firm orange flesh.

The Juan Canary melon, or "Brazilian melon," has a whitish flesh that is very tasty and 
sweet, and colored pink close to the central cavity. It is very aromatic when ripe.

The Ogen melon is a hybrid. Its very juicy flesh is dark pink or pale green.

The Galia melon is another hybrid. Its pale green flesh is very aromatic.

The Santa Claus melon or "Christmas melon" has pale green flesh.

Buying

Choose: a heavy melon with no bruises, marks or parts that are soft or moist.

Avoid: a soft melon with an abnormal color and a strong smell.

If the spot where the melon was attached to the plant is very hard and unevenly colored, or a part of the green stem is still present, this is a sign of immaturity. When mature, this part of the melon becomes flexible and the part opposite the stem emits a delicate scent. Melons sound hollow when lightly tapped with the palm of the hand.

Preparing

Cut the melon in half or in quarters. Remove the seeds from the central cavity, but leave those in the part of the melon that is not being eaten (which keeps it fresh). Serve the melon as is, chop the flesh into cubes or take out balls of flesh using a melon baller.

Serving Ideas

Melon is often eaten plain, but is delicious flavored with ginger, lemon juice, lime juice or sherry. It is eaten with cereal and in fruit salads. Juiced or puréed melon is used to flavor sorbets and ice creams. Melon is cooked into jam, marmalade or chutney. It works well with ham, charcuterie (sausages and deli meats), prosciutto or any other dried meat, smoked fish and cheese. It accompanies meat, poultry or seafood. It adds an unusual note to salads of vegetables, rice or chicken. It can be dried, marinated and distilled.

Storing

Melon is very fragile and spoils quickly. 

At room temperature: for ripening. Keep away from other fruits and vegetables. 

In the fridge: ripe and covered. Take out of the fridge a little while before eating.

In the freezer: only the flesh; in slices, balls or cubes, sprinkled with sugar (1 cup/240 ml per 4 cups/1 l of fruit) and lemon juice, then sealed in an airtight container. The flesh softens when defrosted.

Nutritional Information

muskmelon

Casaba melon

Honeydew melon

Persian melon

Juan Canary melon

Santa Claus melon

Ogen melon

Galia melon

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For more information on melon, visit Britannica.com.

Gourds, sweet fruit of Cucurmis melo. A 200-g portion is a rich source of vitamin C (melons with orange or yellow flesh are a rich source of carotene); a source of vitamin B₆; provides 2 g of dietary fibre; supplies 45 kcal (190 kJ). The water melon is Citrullis vulgaris, jelly or horned melon is kiwano.

Hieroglyphics dating back to 2400 b.c. show that Egyptians knew the pleasures of these sweet, perfumy fruits even then. Melons belong to the gourd family, as do squash and pumpkin. There are two broad categories of edible melon, the muskmelon and the watermelon, each of which has many varieties.

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Mary Ellen appears to be a name invented for the rhyme.

• Vines
• Pink

"Melon" redirects here. For other uses, see Melon (disambiguation).

Various types of melons

Melon vendors in Kstovo's Lenin Square, Russia

This list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Many different cultivars have been produced, particularly of muskmelons. Although the melon is a botanical fruit (specifically, a berry), some varieties may be considered culinary vegetables rather than fruits. The word melon derives from Latin melopepo,^[1] which is the latinization of the Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopepon), meaning "melon",^[2] itself a compound of μῆλον (mēlon), "apple"^[3] + πέπων (pepōn), amongst others "a kind of gourd or melon".^[4]

Contents 1 History 2 Melons by genus 2.1 Benincasa 2.2 Citrullus 2.3 Cucumis 2.4 Momordica 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 General references 7 External links

History

Watermelon and melon in India

Melons originated in Africa^[5] and southwest Asia,^[6] but they gradually began to appear in Europe toward the end of the Roman Empire. Melons were among the earliest plants to be domesticated in both the Old and New Worlds.^[7] Early American settlers are recorded as growing honeydew and casaba melons as early as the 1600s.^[6] A number of Native American tribes in New Mexico, including Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Navajo, Santo Domingo and San Felipe, maintain a traditional of growing their own characteristic melon cultivars, derived from melons originally introduced by the Spanish. Organizations like Native Seeds/SEARCH have made an effort to collect and preserve these and other heritage seeds.^[8][9]

Melons by genus

Cantaloupe

Benincasa

• Winter melon^{[note 1]} (B. hispida) is the only member of the genus Benincasa. The mature winter melon is a culinary vegetable, widely used in Asia and India. The immature melons are used as a culinary fruit, for example to make a distinctive fruit drink.

Citrullus

• Egusi (C. lanatus) is a wild melon, identical in appearance to the watermelon. The flesh is inedible, but the seeds are a valuable food source in Africa.^[10] Other species that have the same culinary role, and that are also called egusi include Cucumeropsis mannii and Lagenaria sicerari.^[11]
• Watermelon (C. lanatus) originated in Africa, where evidence indicates that it has been cultivated for over 4,000 years.^[12] It is a popular summer fruit in all parts of the world.^[13]

Cucumis

Melons in genus Cucumis are culinary fruits, and include the majority of culinary melons. All but a handful of culinary melon varieties belong to the species Cucumis melo L.

• Horned melon (C. metuliferus), a traditional food plant in Africa with distinctive spikes. Now grown in California, Chile, Australia and New Zealand as well.^[14]
• Muskmelon (C. melo)
  • C. melo cantalupensis, with skin that is rough and warty, not netted.
    • The European cantaloupe, with lightly ribbed, pale green skin, was domesticated in the 18th century, in Cantalupo nel Sannio, Italy, by the pope's gardener. Varieties include the French Charentais and the Burpee Seeds hybrid Netted Gem, introduced in the 19th century.^[15] The Yubari King is a highly prized Japanese cantaloupe cultivar.
    • The Persian melon resemble a large cantaloupe with a darker green rind and a finer netting.^[16]
  • C. melo inodorus, or winter melons
    • Canary melon, a large, bright-yellow melon with a pale green to white inner flesh.
    • Casaba, bright yellow, with a smooth, furrowed skin. Less flavorful than other melons, but keeps longer.^[17]
    • Hami melon, originally from Hami, Xinjian, China. Flesh is sweet and crisp.^[18]
    • Honeydew, with a sweet, juicy, green-colored flesh. Grown as bailan melon in Lanzhou, China.
    • Kolkhoznitsa melon, with smooth, yellow skin and dense, white flesh.^[19]
    • Piel de Sapo (toad skin) or Santa Claus melon, with a blotchy green skin and white sweet-tasting flesh.
    • Sugar melon a smooth, white, round fruit.^[20]
    • Tiger melon, an orange, yellow and black striped melon from Turkey with a soft pulp.^[21]
    • Japanese melons (including the Sprite melon).
  • C. melo reticulatus, true muskmelons, with netted (reticulated) skin.
    • North American cantaloupe, distinct from the European cantaloupe, with the net-like skin pattern common to other C. melo reticulatus varieties.^[22]
    • Galia, small and very juicy with either faint green or rosy pink flesh.^[16]
    • Sharlyn melons, with taste between honeydew and cantaloupes, netted skin, greenish-orange rind, and white flesh.^[23]
  • Modern crossbred varieties, e.g. Crenshaw (Casaba × Persian), Crane (Japanese × N.A. cantaloupe).

Momordica

• The young fruit of M. balsamina L. is eaten as a culinary vegetable in Cameroon, Sudan and southern Africa.^[24]
• The bitter melon (M. charantia) is the only significant melon that is a member of the genus Momordica. It is a culinary vegetable, widely used in Asian, Indian and Caribbean cuisines. The flesh of the bitter melon has a characteristic bitter flavor. In contrast, the red, gelatinous coating of the mature seeds is sweet, and is used in some Asian cuisines as a sweetener. Bitter melon has an unusually large number of common names in various regions.^[25]
• The ripe fruit of M. foetida is eaten in Ghana, Gabon, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.^[26]

See also

Food portal

• List of gourds and squashes
• List of culinary fruits
• Squash

Notes

1. ^ Not to be confused with Cucumis melo inodorus varieties, also collectively called winter melon.

References

1. ^ Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short (1879). "melopepo". A Latin Dictionary. Oxford University Press. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dmelopepo. 
2. ^ Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott (1925). "μηλοπέπων,". A Greek-English Lexicon (ninth ed.). http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dmhlope%2Fpwn. 
3. ^ Liddell et al, "μῆλον"
4. ^ Liddell et al, "πέπων"
5. ^ John Griffith Vaughan, Catherine Geissler (2009). The new Oxford book of food plants (second ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 134. ISBN 0-19-954946-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=UdKxFcen8zgC&lpg=PA134&dq=melons&pg=PA134#v=onepage&q=melons&f=false. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Growing Melons". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. http://byf.unl.edu/Melon. Retrieved 2011-11-04. 
7. ^ Andres, T. C. (2004). "Cucurbitaceae". http://www.cucurbit.org/family.html. ^{[self-published source?]}
8. ^ Denise Miller (September 24, 2008). "San Felipe Pueblo melon farmer favors the old ways". Albequerque Journal. http://www.abqjournal.com/food/2491846256food09-24-08.htm. 
9. ^ "Melons: The Native Americans". New Mexico Fruit Growers. September 30, 2010. http://nmfruitgrowers.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/melons-the-native-americans/. 
10. ^ Danielle Nierenberg. "Seeds, seeds, seeds: Egusi, the Miracle Melon". Nourishing the Planet. http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/seeds-seeds-seeds-egusi-the-miracle-melon/. 
11. ^ Enoch Gbenato Achigan-Dako; Rose Fagbemissi; Hermane Tonankpon Avohou; Raymond Sognon Vodouhe; Ousmane Coulibaly; Adam Ahanchede (2008). "Importance and practices of Egusi crops (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai, Cucumeropsis mannii Naudin and Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. cv. ‘ Aklamkpa ’) in sociolinguistic areas in Benin". Biotechnol. Agron. Soc. Environ. 12 (4): 393-40. http://pressesagro.be/base/text/v12n4/393.pdf. 
12. ^ Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf (2000). Domestication of Plants in the Old World (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 193. 
13. ^ "Grassland Species Profiles". FAO. 
14. ^ G.N. Njorogo; M.N. van Luijk (2004). "Momordica". In G.J.H. Grubben; O.H. Denton. Plant resources of tropical Africa: Vegetables. Wageningen, Netherlands: PROTA Foundation. p. 248. ISBN 90-5782-147-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=6jrlyOPfr24C&lpg=PA568&dq=momordica%20charantia%20culinary&pg=PA385#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
15. ^ Anthony F. Chiffolo, Rayner W. Hesse (2006). Cooking with the Bible: biblical food, feasts, and lore. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 255. ISBN 0-313-33410-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=Xwq1lunLkuoC&lpg=PA255&dq=%22melo%20cantalupensis%22&pg=PA255#v=onepage&q=%22melo%20cantalupensis%22&f=false. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Heidemarie Vos (2010). Passion of a Foodie - An International Kitchen Companion. Strategic Book Publishing. p. 348. ISBN 1-934925-63-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=spY3ct9PBxEC&lpg=PA348&dq=%22persian%20melon%22%20netting&pg=PA348#v=onepage&q=%22persian%20melon%22%20netting&f=false. 
17. ^ "What is a casaba melon?". WiseGeek. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-casaba-melon.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-04. 
18. ^ "Xinjiang Hami Melon". China ABC. China Daily. http://www1.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/08/content_22024.htm. Retrieved 2012-04-05. 
19. ^ "Moscow flooded with melons". The Moscow Times. September 21, 2007. http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=7938. Retrieved 2001-11-04. 
20. ^ Jac G. Constant (1986). The complete book of fruit: an illustrated guide to over 400 species and varieties of fruit from all over the world. Admiral. p. 35. ISBN 1-85171-049-3. 
21. ^ Judy Bastyra, Julia Canning (1990). A gourmet's guide to fruit. HP Books. p. 64. ISBN 0-89586-849-0. 
22. ^ Linda Ziedrich (2010). The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves: 200 Classic and Contemporary Recipes Showcasing the Fabulous Flavors of Fresh Fruits (Easyread Large Edition). ReadHowYouWant.com. p. 116. ISBN 1-4587-6483-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=JdLYGMOIndkC&lpg=PA116&dq=reticulatus%20%22north%20american%20melon%22&pg=PA116#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
23. ^ James Ehler. "Melons". Food Reference. http://www.foodreference.com/html/artmelon.html. Retrieved 2011-11-04. ^{[self-published source?]}
24. ^ PROTA, p. 384
25. ^ PROTA, p. 384
26. ^ PROTA p. 390

General references

• Mabberley, D.J. (1987). The Plant Book. A portable dictionary of the higher plants. Cambridge University Press. p. 706. ISBN 0-521-34060-8. http://books.google.com/books/about/The_plant_book.html?id=ZVdoUPtqKCIC. 
• Magness, J.R., G.M. Markle, C.C. Compton (1971). "Food and feed crops of the United States". IR Bulletin (New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station) 1 (828). OL14117370M.  Interregional Research Project IR-4

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Melons

• "Cucumis melo L.". Purdue University, Center for New Crops & Plant Products. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/nexus/Cucumis_melo_nex.html. Retrieved 2011-11-04. 
• "Sorting Cucumis names". Multilingual multiscript plant name database. http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Cucumis.html. Retrieved 2011-11-04. 
• Melons, The Cook's Thesaurus, http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruitmel.html, retrieved 2011-11-04 . List of photographed varieties of melons.
• "Growing Melons, Makings, Tips - A Grandfather’s Tenets". Melon Growing Guide. Agriculture Guide. June 7, 2011. http://agricultureguide.org/growing-melons-makings-tips-a-grandfathers-tenets. Retrieved 2011-11-04. 

v t e Melon Bailan melon Bitter melon Canary melon Cantaloupe Citron melon Citrullus ecirrhosus Cucumeropsis mannii Galia Hami melon Honeydew Horned melon Melon ball Montreal melon Muskmelon Paddy melon Piel de Sapo Santa Claus melon Sprite melon Sugar melon Sun Melon Watermelon Watermelon steak Winter melon Yubari King

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - melon

Nederlands (Dutch)
meloen, extra dividend, iets groots en ronds, (mv) borsten, deel van hoofd van dolfijnen etc., financiële meevaller

Français (French)
n. - melon

Deutsch (German)
n. - Melone

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυτολ.) πεπόνι

Italiano (Italian)
melone

Português (Portuguese)
n. - melão (m) (Bot.)

Русский (Russian)
дыня, дивиденд в форме бесплатных акций

Español (Spanish)
n. - melón

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - melon

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
瓜

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 瓜

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (과일의 일종) 멜론

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - メロン

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شمام, بطيخ, كرش, شيئ مستدير كالبطيخ‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מלון, אבטיח צהוב‬

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