Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo cantaloupensis)
Wholesome, Nutritious, Delicious, and Health Promoting
Jun 24, 2009
Cantaloupes (Cucumis melo cantaloupensis) are annual plants that originated in Persia. The melon was named after Cantalupo in Sabina, near Tivoli, Italy where the Pope spends his summers. The North American cantaloupe is believed to have been brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to this continent. Netted/Nutmeg (Cucumis melo reticulous) muskmelons are the melon varieties that are grown in North America. They are generally medium-sized fruits, have netted surfaces, and have green to deep-salmon colored perfumed flesh. Some of the most commonly grown cultivars are: "Hale's Best", "Fastbreak", "Hybrid Alaska","Sugarshaw", and "Sweet Summer."
By comparison, the "true" canteloupes are medium-sized, rough, warty and scaly fruits. They are not netted surfaced, and are grown mostly in Europe. One of the most renowned variety is "Charentais," an heirloom that originated and is almost exclusively cultivated in France.
Mature fruits are eaten as a dessert fruit, used in sorbets, or processed and their juice extracted as cantaloupe juice. Both types of fruits, North American or European contains:
- 10 antihypertensive substances
- 10 anticancer/antitumor agents
- 10 antioxidants
- 10 antidiabetic chemicals
- 7 anticholesterol (blood cholesterol-lowering) agents
- 5 antiobesity compounds
- 5 anti-inflammatory substances
- 5 heart-protective chemicals
Selection, Storage, and Preparation
- Choose firm ripe cantaloupes that are free of blemish. Melons become aromatic as they ripen. You can smell the fragrance at the stem end of the fruit. They may also start to "shrivel" slightly. This ripening process may be shown by "indentations" on the surface of the fruit.
- Never refrigerate whole, uncut melons
- Keep ripening melons away from onions, garlic, potatoes or other fruits. They may degrade each other.
- Wash the melon(s) before cutting the fruit or fruits. The skin of the fruits are often contaminated with Salmonella which can be transferred to the flesh of the fruit as you cut it open.
- Once cut, cover and refrigerate the melon.
Nutritional Content of Canteloupe/Serving Portion: 1 Wedge (1/8ths of a Medium Melon or 69 Grams)
- Calories: 23
- Carbohydrates: 6 grams
- Fiber: 1 gram
- Sugar: 5 grams
- Protein: 1 gram
- Vitamin A: 2334 International Units (IUs)
- Betacarotene: 1394 micrograms
- Lutein & Zeaxanthin: 18 micrograms
- Vitamin C: 18 milligrams
- Vitamin E: 0.03 milligrams
- Vitamin E: 1.73 micrograms
- Vitamin B1/Thiamin: 0.028 milligrams
- Vitamin B2/Riboflavin: 0.013 milligrams
- Vitamin B3/Niacin: 0.506 milligrams
- Vitamin B6: 0.05 milligrams
- Folate: 15 micrograms
- Pantothenic Acid: 0.07 micrograms
- Calcium: 6 milligrams
- Iron: 0.145 milligrams
- Magnesium: 8 milligrams
- Phosphorus: 10 milligrams
- Potassium: 184 milligrams
- Sodium: 11 milligrams
- Zinc: 0.12 milligrams
- Copper: 0.028 milligrams
- Magnesium: 0.28 milligrams
- Selenium: 0.3 micrograms
- Total Fat: 0.131 milligrams
- Saturated Fat: 0.035 milligrams
- Monounsaturated Fat: 0.0002 milligrams
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.056 milligrams
References "Cantaloupe Risk Assessment Introduction and Summary" Ontario Food Inspection Branch December 2002
"Muskmelons (Canteloupe)" Horticultural Department, Purdue University
"Food Composition Table" Understanding Nutrition, 9th Edition, Whitney EN & Rolfes SR, Wadsworth, CA 2002, Appendix H, Table H-1
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