Melon
Amelonis any kind ofedible,fleshy fruitin theCucurbitaceaefamily. Many differentcultivarshave been produced, especially ofmuskmelons.Botanicallyspeaking, the melon is a fruit, but some kinds are often consideredvegetables.Most melons belong to thegenusCucumis,but there are also some that belong toBenincasa,CitrullusandMomordica.The muskmelon belongs toCucumis,while thewatermelonbelongs toCitrullus.
The wordmeloncomes from theLatinmelopepo,[1]which itself comes from theGreekμηλοπέπων(mēlopepon).[2]
History
[change|change source]Melons come fromAfrica[3]andsouthwest Asia.[4]They gradually began to appear inEuropetoward the end of theRoman Empire.Melons were introduced toAmericaby early settlers, who grewhoneydewandcasabamelons as early as the 1600s.[4]A number ofNative Americangroups inNew Mexicohave a tradition of growing their own kinds of meloncultivars,derived from melons originally introduced by theSpanish.[5][6]
Nutrition
[change|change source]Melons are anutritiousfood. The seeds of cantaloupe were used inChinato moderate fevers and the digestive system. Elsewhere, seeds were ground into a powder and used to treattuberculosis.Cantaloupes are particularly beneficial to people with heart disease, as they have large of amounts of ananticoagulantknown asadenosine.They also have high levels ofpotassium,which benefits those with high blood pressure. Due to their high water content, all melons are considereddiuretics.
There is also evidence that suggests that eating melons can lower the risk ofcancer.USDAresearchers discovered that melons havelycopene,an antioxidant found in a select group of fruits and vegetables. Lycopene treats and prevents cancer by trapping free-radicals in cells.
References
[change|change source]- ↑Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short (1879). "melopepo".A Latin Dictionary.Oxford University Press.
- ↑Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott (1925). "μηλοπέπων".A Greek-English Lexicon(ninth ed.). Oxford University Press.
- ↑John Griffith Vaughan, Catherine Geissler (2009).The New Oxford Book of Food Plants(second ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 134.ISBN978-0-19-954946-7.
- ↑4.04.1"Growing Melons".University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-04-03.Retrieved2011-11-04.
- ↑Denise Miller (24 September 2008)."San Felipe Pueblo melon farmer favors the old ways".Albuquerque Journal.
- ↑"Melons: The Native Americans".New Mexico Fruit Growers. 30 September 2010.
Other websites
[change|change source]
- "Cucumis melo L."Purdue University, Center for New Crops & Plant Products.
- "Sorting Cucumis names".Multilingual multiscript plant name database.
- "Melons".The Cook's Thesaurus..List of photographed varieties of melons.
- "Growing Melons, Makings, Tips - A Grandfather's Tenets".Melon Growing Guide.Agriculture Guide. 7 June 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 4 November 2013.Retrieved8 June2013.