HEALTHY CORNER

The fruit that we call the cantaloupe is, in actuality, really a muskmelon. The true cantaloupe is a different species of melon that is mostly grown in France and rarely found in the United States. It derives its name from the Italian papal village of Cantalup where it was first cultivated around 1700 A.D. From hereon, we will still use the term "cantaloupe" when referring to the muskmelon.

The cantaloupe is a melon that belongs to the same family as the cucumber, squash, pumpkin and gourd, and like many of its relatives, it grows on the ground on a trailing vine. It is round or oval in shape and usually has a ribless rind. Having a distinctive netted skin, it is also referred to as netted melon. Many of the cantaloupes available today are hybrids of muskmelons and true cantaloupes and have qualities that reflect both.

Cantaloupes range in color from orange-yellow to salmon and have a soft and juicy texture with a sweet, musky aroma that emanates through the melon when it is ripe. Cantaloupes feature a hollow cavity that contains their seeds encased in a web of netting.

Cantaloupe is also known as rockmelon in several parts of the world.