Melons are a summer food, with most varieties at their best between May and August. But sometimes it just feels right to have some!
When it comes to melons, you can’t do much better than cantaloupe. It’s nutritious, delicious, and versatile.
If you typically buy watermelon or honeydew melon and shy away from cantaloupe, you’re missing out
- Cantaloupe compounds may protect against age-related macular degeneration.
- One cup of diced cantaloupe contains only 53 calories for those who choose to count calories:)
- Just 200 grams of cantaloupe exceeds your daily vitamin C C requirements.
- Cantaloupe can be added to many foods, from smoothies to salsas.
A bit of Caution:
Beta-blockers are a type of medication most commonly prescribed for heart disease, can cause potassium levels to increase in the blood. High potassium foods such as cantaloupe should be consumed in moderation when taking beta-blockers.
Consuming too much potassium can be harmful to those whose kidneys are not fully functional.
Many people find that they cannot eat cantaloupe because of it’s high bacteria count if not cut properly.
Like many fruits it is suggested to eat fruit alone and in small quantities but enjoy them!!
Tips for Preparing and Cooking
When the time comes for you to slice open your cantaloupe, there is actually a certain way I cut my cantaloupe.
Risk of bacterial contamination in cut cantaloupe is significant and public health organizations stress the importance of safe handling practices. Be sure to wash your hands and all utensils before and after cutting cantaloupe. We recommend that you rinse a whole cantaloupe under cool running water, gently scrub the rind with a natural bristle brush, and then pat dry before you slice it open. This rinsing process with help remove unwanted bacterial contamination.
Next, place the whole cantaloupe on a clean cutting surface. Cut off the top (stem end, where the vine was attached) of the cantaloupe and discard. (Research shows that bacterial contamination is more likely to occur in this spot.)
I then cup the other end, place it on it’s end and carefully cut off the entire rind and discard.
I then rinse the entire cantaloupe once more and rinse my knife and cutting board.
After cutting my cantaloupe in half, I remove the seeds and cut into pieces to be enjoyed!
Public health organizations do make allowances for cut cantaloupe to be kept at room temperature for a very short period of time, and we recommend that you limit this time period to two hours. Cut cantaloupe left sitting at room temperature for more than two hours should be discarded. The risks here involve contamination by one of several micro-organisms, including Salmonella, Listeria, or E. coli 0157:H7.
To widen the safety margin for cantaloupe even further, it is recommended that you actually avoid leaving cut cantaloupe at room temperature for any period of time, and keep all cut cantaloupe in the refrigerator.
How I Cut My Canteloupe?
Print RecipeIngredients
- Take one ripe cantaloupe. Personally, prefer organic.
- The ingredients are it's wonderful nutritional content:
- Cantaloupe contains a wide variety of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients, including the carotenoids alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin; the flavonoid luteolin; the organic acids ferulic and caffeic acid; and two cucurbitacins—cucurbitacin B and cucurbitacin E.
- Cantaloupe is an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids) and vitamin C.
- It is also a good source of potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin B1, vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, copper and vitamin K.
Instructions
How to select a ripe Cantaloupe:
The key to purchasing a good quality melon is to find one that is ripe, which is sometimes a challenge because oftentimes they are picked while still unripe in order to ensure that they make it through the shipping process undamaged. There are many clues that you can look for to find a melon that is ripe. The first is by simply picking it up and feeling its weight. Does it feel fuller and heavier than you would expect it to? If so, that's a good thing, because it's an indication of the cantaloupe's ripeness.
Next, tap on the cantaloupe and listen to the sound it makes. If the sound is dull and also deep, that's another indication that you're holding a ripe cantaloupe. But if the sound is higher and hollow, your cantaloupe is probably not ripe.
If you press gently on the top of a ripe cantaloupe (the stem end, where the vine was attached) with your thumb, you should feel it give way very slightly. If that spot gives way substantially, to the point of feeling genuinely soft or even squishy, the cantaloupe is probably overripe. A quick check around different areas of the cantaloupe is also a good idea at this point so you can make sure that there is no bruising or damage.
The appearance of a ripe versus unripe cantaloupe is also different. The rind of a ripe cantaloupe (meaning the outermost layer beneath the netting) is typically going to be cream-colored or yellow or golden but not green or gray. The rind of an unripe cantaloupe is more likely to contain some green or gray. (Don't rely too heavily on this ripeness indicator, however, since some varieties of cantaloupe have rinds that stay green or gray.)
Smelling the bottom of the cantaloupe (also called the blossom end, opposite from the stem end where the vine was attached) can also be helpful in determining its ripeness. Unripe cantaloupes are likely to have a very faint smell, or no smell at all. Ripe cantaloupes are likely to have that spectacular cantaloupe aroma—but not in an overpowering way. If the fragrance is overly strong, the cantaloupe may be overripe.
Notes
Many researchers understand metabolic syndrome—a group of health problems that includes high blood fats, high blood sugars, high blood pressure, and too much body fat—to be caused by problems in lifestyle that result in chronic underlying levels of unwanted inflammation and oxidative stress throughout the body. In this context, it's not surprising to see decreased risk of metabolic syndrome in individuals with especially high intake of cantaloupe (along with other fruits), since cantaloupe provides a wide range of antioxidants that help prevent oxidative stress and a wide range of anti-inflammatory phytonutrients that help prevent excessive inflammation. It's also not surprising to see lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the bloodstream of persons who have particularly high intake of cantaloupe, since CRP is a marker widely used to assess levels of inflammation in the body.
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