People have enjoyed the sweet, fragrant flesh of melons for many centuries. Although usually eaten as fresh fruits, melons are sometimes pickled or preserved. Melons are good sources of vitamins A and C.
Melon plants are vines with trailing stems called runners that are 7 to 8 feet (2.1 to 2.4 meters) long. They are annual plants, meaning that they last for only one growing season in one year. They must be replanted for the next growing season the following year.
The leaves of melon plants are large and rounded or lobed. The flowers are yellow, bell-shaped, and about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) across.
The numerous varieties of melon fruits differ in size, shape, texture, color, and flavor. Their weight also varies from 2 to 9 pounds (1 to 4 kilograms).The fruits have protective outer rinds that cover the fleshy pulp. The pulp in turn encloses many seeds. The seeds are sometimes dried and eaten as snacks or used in cooking.
Warm-weather plants, melons can be grown on any good soil where the growing season is long enough—120 to 140 days without frost. Melon vines need a lot of moisture. Until the fruits are fully grown, however, too much watering can harm ripening melons. Most of the commercial crop is grown using a controlled watering system known as irrigation.
A melon must be left on the vine to ripen completely. After it has reached its maximum sugar content, it develops a separation layer in the stem to prevent further nutrients from entering the fruit. At this point the fruit is ready to be picked. Once picked, its sugar content decreases rapidly.
The word melon comes from the Latin word melopepo, meaning “apple-shaped gourd.” Melons are members of the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. This family also includes cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes, and watermelons.
Melons can be divided into seven groups: netted or nutmeg melons, cantaloupes, winter melons, snake or serpent melons, Oriental pickling melons, mango melons, and stinking melons. Some plants resemble true melons but are actually different plants. These include watermelons.
One of the oldest records of melon plants is in an Egyptian tomb painting from 2400 BC. By the 17th century all types of melons known today were available in central and northern Europe. Christopher Columbus and his men are believed to have planted the first melon seeds in America in 1494. The Native Americans spread the plants throughout the Americas.
