Cantaloupe has a rich refreshing aroma and flavor and is vary low in calories. They are best available from June through August; however they have been increasingly available throughout the year. Cantalup is an Italian papal village from where the name cantaloupe is derived, as it was first cultivated there in around 1700 A.D. Cantaloupe is also known a netted melon due to its distinctive characteristic of net like skin. The melon has a hollow cavity inside which is filled with seeds encased in a web of netting.
In several other parts of the world cantaloupe is also known as rockmelon.
Health and cantaloupe
Cantaloupe is an excellent source of vitamin A and is concentrated with beta carotene. Beta carotene gets converted to vitamin A in the body when consumed, thus eating cantaloupe is like getting both of these beneficial nutrients at once. As both, vitamin A and beta carotene are vision nutrient, they help to improve or better vision. Free radicals may cause an injury to the eye lenses and may lead to cataract or damage the blood supply to the eye causing macular degeneration. To protect the eyesight researches suggest that three or more servings of fruits per day may help lower the risk of age related macular degeneration, which is the primary cause of vision loss in older people by 36% than the other counterpart who consumed less than 1.5 servings of fruits per day.
Cantaloupe is also an excellent source for vitamin C that functions as an antioxidant in water soluble areas of the body. Thus all these three nutrients cover the whole body from oxidative stress and free radical damage. Besides scavenging free radicals, vitamin C is also important for good immune function. It stimulates WBC to kill the bacteria and viruses in case of an infection and helps regenerate vitamin E that has been inactivated by disarming free radicals. Thus due to these multiple benefits of this water soluble antioxidant, it is easy to conclude that consuming fruits and vegetables rich in these nutrients helps to protect against cancer, heart diseases and stroke. One cup of cantaloupe contains 112.5 % daily value of vitamin C.
Cantaloupe is also a very good source of other vitamins and minerals like potassium, a good source of vitamin B6, vitamin B3 or niacin, folate and dietary fiber. This combination of fiber along with the B-complex vitamins makes cantaloupe an excellent fruit for supporting energy production through good carbohydrate metabolism and maintaining blood sugar stability.
Consuming cantaloupe which is high in Pro-vitamin A promotes lung health especially in a smoking individual. Vitamin A from cantaloupe helps decrease the lung inflammation and emphysema.
Cantaloupe is neither included in commonly allergic foods nor does it contains measurable amounts of purines, oxalates or goitrogens, thus considered safe for consumption for all healthy individuals.