Cantaloupe is an unusual word for a fruit, but when we learn that cantaloupe was first cultivated in the Italian village Cantalupo, around AD 1200, it makes more sense.
This brightly colored fruit belongs to the same family as the cucumber, squash, pumpkin, and gourd. It is filled with strong compounds with many health benefits. It helps to protect your sight, controls your blood pressure, lowers your cholesterol level, keep your blood running smoothly, and protect you against cancer.
“Cantaloupe belongs to one of the rare fruits or vegetables which are a rich source of two potent antioxidants: vitamin C and beta-carotene,” says John Erdman, PhD, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois in Urbana. Both of these antioxidant compounds have been shown to protect against cancer, heart disease and other age-related health problems, such as cataracts.
Cantaloupes are charged with carotenoids, the pigments that give fruits and vegetables their bright colors and offer powerful health protection. According to a study in the Netherlands, eating carotenoid-rich fruits results in a 35% lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of irreversible blindness in developed countries.
Cantaloupe protect you also for another sight problem: catarcats. Another study found that women who received the most vitamin A through their diet, reduced their risk of developing cataracts by 39%. When beta-carotene comes inside the body, it is converted to vitamin A. Still another study found that people whose diets included the most vitamin A, halved their risk of cataract surgery.
As I wrote before, antioxidants are compounds that neutralize free radicals, which can cause cellular changes that can lead to heart disease, cancer and cataracts.
Vitamin C, Like potassium, helps to keep your arteries clear and a smooth blood flow by preventing bad LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and clogging the artery walls. Another use of vitamin C by our body is the production of collagen, a protein that makes up skin and connective tissue.
Cantaloupe is an excellent source of vitamin C and beta-carotene. One cup contains 68 mg vitamin C, which is 113% of the Daily Value for this vitamin. Half a cantaloupe provides 5 mg beta-carotene, which is about half of the daily amount recommended by most experts.
Important Tips
Cut cantaloupe under water to keep it longer fresh. Scientists from the USDA found that, when you slice cantaloupe under water, it short-circuits the signals that plant cells send to each other when they detect an injury, like being sliced.
Buy them ripe.
Cantaloupe contains more beta-carotene when it is ripe. The challenge is that melons are often picked while they are still unripe so that they can make it through the shipping process undamaged. To check for ripeness, tap the melon and listen for a hollow sound. Then lift the fruit to make sure that it’s heavy for its size. Finally, smell the fruit to make sure that it exudes a sweet, musky parfume. (The smell shouldn’t be too strong; an excessively strong smell indicates an overripe fruit.) If there is no smell, don’t buy it and try another one.
Check the stem.
There shouldn’t be one. Mature cantaloupes will only have a smooth, symmetrical basin where the stem once was and flesh that yields slightly to pressure.
Set it out.
Leave a firm cantaloupe at room temperature for several days to allow it to become softer and juicier. Once’s it’s ripe, put it in the fridge.
Eat it quickly.
Vitamin C degrades quickly when exposed to air, so it’s important to eat cantaloupe fairly soon after cutting, says Dr. Erdman. This is in particularly necessary when the fruit is cut into small pieces, which significantly increases the amount of air to which it’s exposed. Research found that cantaloupe cubes lost 25% of their vitamin C content and 10-15% of their carotenoids after being exposed to air for 6 days.