Cantaloupe is a strange word for a fruit, but when we consider that cantaloupe was first cultivated in the Italian village Cantalupo, around AD 1200, it makes more sense.
This fruit, with his bright colors, belongs to the same family as the cucumber, squash, pumpkin, and gourd . It contains strong compounds that not only helps to protect your sight, but also controls your blood pressure. lowers your cholesterol level, keeps your blood running smoothly, and protect you against cancer.
“Cantaloupe
is one of the few fruits or vegetables which are rich both in vitamin
C and beta-carotene,” says John Erdman, PhD, professor of
nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois in Urbana.
These
antioxidant compounds have been shown to protect against cancer,
heart disease and other age-related health problems, such as
cataracts.
Cantaloupes are loaded with carotenoids, the pigments that give fruits and vegetables their bright colors and provide strong health protection. A study in the Netherlands found, that eating carotenoid-rich fruits caused a 35% less risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of irreversible blindness in developed countries.
Cantaloupe gives also protection for another aspect of sight problems: cataracts. Another study found that women who got the most vitamin A through their diet had a 39% reduced risk of developing cataracts. Once beta-carotene is inside the body, it is converted to vitamin A. Another study found that people whose diets included the most vitamin A, cut their risk of cataract surgery in half.
Cantaloupe is a rich source of two potent antioxidants: vitamin C and beta-carotene. 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 the arteries clear and blood moving smoothly by preventing bad LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and clogging the artery walls. Vitamin C is also used by our body to produce 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
Cutting cantaloupe under water keeps it longer fresh. Scientists from the USDA found that when you cut cantaloupe under water, it short-circuits the signals plant cells send to each other when they detect an injury, like being sliced.
Buy them ripe.
The riper the cantaloupe, the more beta-carotene it contains. 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 odor. (The smell shouldn’t be too strong; an excessively strong smell indicates an overripe fruit.) If there is no smell, put it down and try another one.
There should be no stem.
Mature cantaloupes will only have a smooth, symmetrical basin where the stem once was and flesh that yields slightly to pressure.
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 straight away.
When exposed to air, vitamin C degrades quickly. So it’s important to eat cantaloupe fairly soon after cutting, says Dr. Erdman. This is particular 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.
|
|