Cucumis melo

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Cucurbitales

Familia: Cucurbitaceae
Tribus: Benincaseae
Genus: Cucumis
Subgenus: C. subg. Cucumis
Sectio: C. sect. Cucumis
Species: Cucumis melo
Subspecies: C. m. subsp. melo
Varietates: C. m. var. agrestis – C. m. var. conomon
Name

Cucumis melo L., 1753.
Homonyms

Cucumis melo Blanco = Cucumis callosus (Rottb.) Cogn.

References
Primary references

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species plantarum, exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas. Tomus II. Pp. 561–1200, [1–30, index], [1, err.]. Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae [Stockholm]. BHL Reference page. : 1011

Links

Hassler, M. 2019. Cucumis melo. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2019. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2019 Dec 23. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Cucumis melo. Published online. Accessed: Dec 23 2019.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Cucumis melo in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2019 Dec 23. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2019. Cucumis melo. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 23 Dec 2019.
Mansfeld's World Database of Agriculture and Horticultural Crops (1998-). IPK Gatersleben. 2010 Nov 09 Online.

Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Spanspek
беларуская: Дыня
Deutsch: Zuckermelone
Ελληνικά: Πεπόνι
English: Muskmelon
español: Melón
suomi: Meloni
Nordfriisk: Sokermeloon
français: Melon
magyar: Sárgadinnye
italiano: Melone
日本語: メロン
Nederlands: Suikermeloen
norsk: Melon
polski: Ogórek melon
português: Melão
svenska: Melon
ไทย: แตงไทย
Türkçe: Kavun
中文: 香瓜

Cucumis melo, also known as melon,[2][3] is a species of Cucumis that has been developed into many cultivated varieties. The fruit is a pepo. The flesh is either sweet or bland, with or without a musky aroma, and the rind can be smooth (such as honeydew), ribbed (such as cantaloupe), wrinkled (such as casaba melon), or netted (such as muskmelon). In North America, the sweet-flesh varieties are often collectively called muskmelon, including the musky netted-rind varieties and the inodorous smooth-rind varieties,[4] and cantaloupe usually means the former type.[5] However, muskmelon in a narrow sense only refers to the musky netted-rind type, while the true cantaloupe is the European type with ribbed and often warty rind that is seldom grown in North America.[6]

The origin of melons is not known. Research has revealed that seeds and rootstocks were among the goods traded along the caravan routes of the Ancient World. Some botanists consider melons native to the Levant and Egypt, while others place their origin in Iran,[7] India or Central Asia.[8] Still others support an African origin, and in modern times wild melons can still be found in some African countries.[9]

Background

The melon is an annual, trailing herb.[8] It grows well in subtropical or warm, temperate climates.[9] Melons prefer warm, well-fertilized soil with good drainage that is rich in nutrients,[8] but are vulnerable to downy mildew and anthracnose. Disease risk is reduced by crop rotation with non-cucurbit crops, avoiding crops susceptible to similar diseases as melons. Cross pollination has resulted in some varieties developing resistance to powdery mildew.[10] Insects attracted to melons include the cucumber beetle, melon aphid, melonworm moth and the pickleworm.[10]
Genetics
Genomic information

NCBI genome ID	10697
Ploidy	diploid
Genome size	374.77 Mb
Number of chromosomes	12
Year of completion	2012

Melons are monoecious plants. They do not cross with watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin, or squash, but varieties within the species intercross frequently.[11] The genome of Cucumis melo was first sequenced in 2012.[12] Some authors treat C. melo as having two subspecies, C. melo agrestis and C. melo melo. Variants within these subspecies fall into groups whose genetics largely agree with their phenotypic traits, such as disease resistance, rind texture, flesh color, and fruit shape. Variants or landraces (some of which were originally classified as species; see the synonyms list to the right) include C. melo var. acidulus, adana, agrestis, ameri, cantalupensis, chandalak, chate, chinensis, chito, conomon, dudaim, flexuosus, inodorus, makuwa, momordica, reticulatus and tibish.

Not all varieties are sweet melons. The snake melon, also called the Armenian cucumber and Serpent cucumber, is a non-sweet melon found throughout Asia from Turkey to Japan.[13][9] It is similar to a cucumber in taste and appearance.[14] Outside Asia, snake melons are grown in the United States, Italy, Sudan and parts of North Africa, including Egypt.[9] The snake melon is more popular in Arab countries.[14]

Other varieties grown in Africa are bitter, cultivated for their edible seeds.[9]

For commercially grown varieties certain features like protective hard netting and firm flesh are preferred for purposes of shipping and other requirements of commercial markets.[10]
Nutrition

Per 100 gram serving, cantaloupe melons provide 34 calories and are a rich source (20% or more the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin A (68% DV) and vitamin C (61% DV), with other nutrients at a negligible level.[15] Melons are 90% water and 9% carbohydrates, with less than 1% each of protein and fat.[15]
Uses

In addition to their consumption when fresh, melons are sometimes dried. Other varieties are cooked, or grown for their seeds, which are processed to produce melon oil. Still other varieties are grown only for their pleasant fragrance.[16] The Japanese liqueur Midori is flavored with melon.
History

There is debate among scholars whether the abattiach in The Book of Numbers 11:5 refers to a melon or a watermelon.[17] Both types of melon were known in Ancient Egypt and other settled areas. Some botanists consider melons native to the Levant and Egypt, while others place the origin in Persia,[18] India or Central Asia, thus the origin is uncertain. Researchers have shown that seeds and rootstocks were among the goods traded along the caravan routes of the Ancient World.[8] Several scientists support an African origin, and in modern times wild melons can still be found in several African countries in East Africa like Ethiopia, Somalia and Tanzania.[9]

Melon was domesticated in West Asia and over time many cultivars developed with variety in shape and sweetness. Iran, India, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and China become centers for melon production.[9] Melons were consumed in Ancient Greece and Rome.[19]
Gallery

Galia melon

Japanese "crown melon" intended as a high-priced gift: The pictured crown melon is 6300 yen, or about US$59

'Squared melon' grown in Atsumi District, Aichi Japan, known as kakumero

The Armenian cucumber, despite the name, is actually a type of melon.

Melon vendor in Samarkand (between 1905 and 1915)

Oriental pickling melon

Muskmelon Seeds

See also

Bailan melon
Barattiere – a landrace variety of melon found in Southern Italy
Canary melon
Carosello – a landrace variety of melon found in Southern Italy
Crane melon
Gaya melon
Hami melon
Korean melon
Melon ball
Melon Day
Montreal melon
Sugar melon

References

The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species, retrieved 23 January 2016
"Cucumis melo". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"Definition of Melon by Oxford Dictionary". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
"Definition of muskmelon". Dictionary by Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
"Definition of cantaloupe". Dictionary by Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
"Melon". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
Raghami, Mahmoud; López-Sesé, Ana Isabel; Hasandokht, Mohamad Reza; Zamani, Zabihollah; Moghadam, Mahmoud Reza Fattahi; Kashi, Abdolkarim (2014-01-01). "Genetic diversity among melon accessions from Iran and their relationships with melon germplasm of diverse origins using microsatellite markers". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 300 (1): 139–151. doi:10.1007/s00606-013-0866-y. ISSN 1615-6110. "Melons or muskmelon are native to Iran and adjacent countries toward the west and east. In fact, ‘Musk’ is a Persian word for a kind of perfume and ‘melon’ is derived from Greek words (Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997). The origin of diversity for melon was traditionally believed to be in Africa (Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997), although recent molecular systematic studies, suggested that it may be originated from Asia and then reached to Africa (Renner et al. 2007). Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Transcaucasia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as Afghanistan and China (Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997) are considered primary diversity centre for melon (Tzitzikas et al. 2009)."
Swenson, Allan A. (1995). Plants of the Bible: And How to Grow Them. Citadel Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780806516158. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
Grubben, G. J. H. (2004). Vegetables. PROTA Foundation. p. 243. ISBN 9789057821479. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
Beattie, James Herbert (1951). Muskmelons. Agricultural Research Service. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
Martin Anderson, Texas AgriLife Extension Service. "Muskmelons Originated in Persia - Archives - Aggie Horticulture". tamu.edu.
Jordi Garcia-Mas (2012). "The genome of melon (Cucumis melo L.)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (29): 11872–11877. Bibcode:2012PNAS..10911872G. doi:10.1073/pnas.1205415109. PMC 3406823. PMID 22753475.
Ashworth, Suzanne (2012-10-31). Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for the Vegetable Gardener. Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 97. ISBN 9780988474901. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
Goldman, Amy (January 2002). Melons: For the Passionate Grower. Artisan Books. p. 112. ISBN 9781579652135. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
"Nutrition Facts for 100 g of melons, cantaloupe, raw [includes USDA commodity food A415]". Conde Nast for the USDA National Nutrient Database, version SR-21. 2014.
National Research Council (2008-01-25). "Melon". Lost Crops of Africa: Volume III: Fruits. Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3. National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/11879. ISBN 978-0-309-10596-5. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
"We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick" Numbers 11:5
Raghami, Mahmoud; López-Sesé, Ana Isabel; Hasandokht, Mohamad Reza; Zamani, Zabihollah; Moghadam, Mahmoud Reza Fattahi; Kashi, Abdolkarim (2014-01-01). "Genetic diversity among melon accessions from Iran and their relationships with melon germplasm of diverse origins using microsatellite markers". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 300 (1): 139–151. doi:10.1007/s00606-013-0866-y. ISSN 1615-6110. "Melons or muskmelon are native to Iran and adjacent countries toward the west and east. In fact, ‘Musk’ is a Persian word for a kind of perfume and ‘melon’ is derived from Greek words (Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997). The origin of diversity for melon was traditionally believed to be in Africa (Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997), although recent molecular systematic studies, suggested that it may be originated from Asia and then reached to Africa (Renner et al. 2007). Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Transcaucasia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as Afghanistan and China (Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997) are considered primary diversity centre for melon (Tzitzikas et al. 2009)."
Ensminger, Marion Eugene (1993-11-09). Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia, Two Volume Set. CRC Publisher. ISBN 9780849389801. Retrieved 26 August 2019.