cantaloupe

The cantaloupe most likely originated in a region from South Asia to Africa. According to New Entry, a Tufts University organization, "Cantaloupes were cultivated in Egypt and migrated across to Iran and Northwest India dating as far back to Biblical times, about 2400 B.C.E."{{web cite |date=28 March 2025 |title=Cantaloupe |url=https://nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/world-peas-food-hub/world-peas-csa/produce-recipes/cantaloupe}}

The cantaloupe is said to have been introduced to Europe from Armenia. It acquired its modern European name due to its cultivation at the Papal country estate of Cantalupo.{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cantaloupe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728050058/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cantaloupe |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 July 2012 |title=Cantaloupe |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |date=2016 |access-date=26 January 2016}} It was first mentioned in English literature in 1739.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3UD2iL4sAAC&q=origin+cantaloupe&pg=PA330 |title=Cantaloupe |encyclopedia=Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia |edition=2nd |volume=1 |author-first1=Marion Eugene |author-last1=Ensminger |author-first2=Audrey H. |author-last2=Ensminger |year=1993 |pages=329–331 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=084938981X}} It later became a commercial crop in the United States c.1890 C.E.

The South African English name {{lang|en-ZA|spanspek|italic=yes}} dates back at least as far as 18th-century Dutch Suriname: J. van Donselaar wrote in 1770, "{{lang|nl|Spaansch-spek}} is the name for the form that grows in Suriname which, because of its thick skin and little flesh, is less consumed."{{cite web |date=19 October 2018 |title=How spanspek got its South African name |url=https://fullstopcom.com/2018/10/how-spanspek-got-its-south-african-name/ |publisher=Full Stop Communications}} A common etymology involves the Spanish-born Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith, who ate cantaloupe for breakfast while her husband and 19th-century governor of Cape Colony, Sir Harry Smith, ate bacon and eggs; the fruit was termed Spanish bacon (Afrikaans {{lang|af|Spaanse spek}}) by locals as a result.{{cite web |url=https://foodloversmarket.co.za/how-did-spanspek-get-its-name/ |title=How did spanspek get its name? |work=Food Lover's Market |date=15 January 2018 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.gondwana-collection.com/blog/spanspek/ |title=How the cantaloupe melon received its name spanspek |first=Bernd |last=Grahl |date=18 December 2015 }} However, the term had been in use long before that point.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

The true or European cantaloupe (Cantalupensis Group sensu stricto), which has non- to slightly netted rind and orange flesh, includes the following types:

• Sub-group Prescott with deeply ribbed rind, such as 'Prescott Fond Blanc'.
• Sub-group Saccharinu with speckled and slightly ribbed rind, such as 'Sucrin de Honfleur'
• Sub-group Charentais with non-speckled, slightly ribbed and green-sutured rind.

The Israeli cantaloupe (Sub-group Ha'Ogen) is similar to the European one, but it has green flesh.

The muskmelon or American cantaloupe (formerly Reticulatus Group but now merged into Cantalupensis Group), which has strongly netted rind and orange flesh, includes the following types:

• Sub-group American Western with non- to slightly ribbed and wholly netted rind.
• Sub-group American Eastern with more or less ribbed rind of which the sutures are not or less netted.

Some sources also include Tuscan melons among American cantaloupes.{{Cite web |date=2020-05-19 |title=Melon Types |url=https://www.vegetables.bayer.com/ca/en-ca/resources/agronomic-spotlights/melon-types.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250422000735/https://www.vegetables.bayer.com/ca/en-ca/resources/agronomic-spotlights/melon-types.html |archive-date=2025-04-22 |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Bayer Vegetables Canada}} These Tuscan-type melons have smaller seed cavities like American western varieties but also have ribs like American eastern varieties. Tuscan melons have noticeably different flavor, potentially due to higher production of ester compounds in these varieties.{{Cite journal |last=Niyakan |first=Seyednami |last2=Nagashima |first2=Yukihiro |last3=Singh |first3=Jashbir |last4=Metrani |first4=Rita |last5=Crosby |first5=Kevin M. |last6=Jifon |first6=John L. |last7=Jayaprakasha |first7=GK |last8=Ravishankar |first8=Sadhana |last9=Brierley |first9=Paul |last10=Leskovar |first10=Daniel I. |last11=Turini |first11=Thomas A. |last12=Schultheis |first12=Jonathan |last13=Coolong |first13=Timothy |last14=Guan |first14=Wenjing |last15=Miller |first15=Rhonda |date=2023-11-01 |title=Genetic and geographical inputs that shape Metabolomic and transcriptomic profiles of melon fruits |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0304423823005083 |journal=Scientia Horticulturae |volume=321 |pages=112337 |doi=10.1016/j.scienta.2023.112337 |issn=0304-4238}}

A melon with netted rind is not necessarily a cantaloupe. Many varieties of Chandalak Group and Ameri Group also have netted rind.

The Japanese muskmelon (Sub-group Earl's) resembles the American cantaloupe in netted rind, but differs in green flesh and non-dehiscent peduncles. Therefore, some horticulturists classify the Japanese muskmelon under Inodorus Group instead of Cantalupensis or Reticulatus Group.

In 2016, global production of melons, including cantaloupes, totaled 31.2 million tons, with China accounting for 51% of the world total (15.9 million tons).{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC|title=Production of melons, including cantaloupes for 2016 (Crops/world regions/production quantity from pick lists)|date=2017|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Statistics Division (FAOSTAT)|access-date=12 April 2018}} Other significant countries growing cantaloupe were Turkey, Iran, Egypt, and India producing 1 to 1.9 million tons, respectively.

California grows 75% of the cantaloupes in the US.{{Cite news|last1=Werner|first1=Erika|last2=Reiley|first2=Laura|date=27 August 2021|title=California's 'Cantaloupe Center' struggles to reign supreme as drought pummels agriculture across the West|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/08/27/california-drought-farmers-cantaloupe/|access-date=28 August 2021|newspaper=Washington Post}}

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. The seeds are edible and may be dried for use as a snack.

Because the surface of a cantaloupe can contain harmful bacteria—in particular, Salmonella{{cite journal |last1=Munnoch |first1=S. A. |last2=Ward |first2=K. |last3=Sheridan |first3=S. |last4=Fitzsimmons |first4=G. J. |last5=Shadbolt |first5=C. T. |last6=Piispanen |first6=J. P. |last7=Wang |first7=Q. |last8=Ward |first8=T. J. |last9=Worgan |first9=T. L. M. |last10=Oxenford |first10=C. |last11=Musto |first11=J. A. |last12=McAnulty |first12=J. |last13=Durrheim |first13=D. N. |title=A multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul in Australia associated with cantaloupe consumption |journal=Epidemiology and Infection |volume=137 |issue=3 |pages=367–74 |year=2009 |pmid=18559128 |doi=10.1017/S0950268808000861 |hdl=1959.13/39126 |s2cid=206280340 |hdl-access=free }}—it is recommended that a melon be washed and scrubbed thoroughly before cutting and consumption to prevent risk of Salmonella or other bacterial pathogens.{{cite web|url=http://chfs.ky.gov/news/Salmonella2012.htm |title=Kentucky: Cabinet for Health and Family Services – Salmonella2012 |access-date=18 August 2012 |quote=In general, the FDA recommends thoroughly washing and scrubbing the rinds of all cantaloupes and melons prior to cutting and slicing, and to keep sliced melons refrigerated prior to eating. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224014318/http://chfs.ky.gov/news/Salmonella2012.htm |archive-date=24 December 2014 }}

A moldy cantaloupe in a Peoria, Illinois, market in 1943 was found to contain the highest yielding strain of mold for penicillin production, after a worldwide search.{{cite web | url = http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/Penicillin.htm | archive-url = https://archive.today/20110615173141/http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/Penicillin.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 15 June 2011 | first = Mary | last = Bellis | title = The History of Penicillin: Alexander Fleming, John Sheehan, Andrew J Moyer | date = 30 June 2017 | work = ThoughtCo | access-date = 9 July 2018 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.ars.usda.gov/oc/timeline/penicillin/ |date=14 February 2018 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service |quote=Then the Peoria researchers made yet another breakthrough. Searching for a superior strain of Penicillium, they found it on a moldy cantaloupe in a Peoria garbage can. When the new strain was made available to drug companies, production skyrocketed. |title=Penicillin Timeline}}

Raw cantaloupe is 90% water, 8% carbohydrates, 0.8% protein and 0.2% fat (table). In a reference amount of {{convert|100|g}}, raw cantaloupe supplies {{convert|34|kcal|kJ|abbr=on|order=flip}} of food energy, and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin A (29% DV) and a moderate source of vitamin C (13% DV). Other micronutrients are in negligible amounts (less than 10% DV) (table).

• Melon
• Watermelon
• Honeydew

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Cucumis melo cantaloupe group}}
• [http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Cucumis.html Sorting Cucumis names]– Multilingual multiscript plant name database

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{{Melons}}

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Category:Melons

Category:Crops originating from Asia

Category:Taxa named by Nicolas Charles Seringe