Cantaloupe Melons
Estimated Inventory, ea : 0
Description/Taste
The Cantaloupe has a roughly netted stone and green colored skin and aromatic orange-coral colored flesh. When perfectly ripe, the flesh is juicy, unctuous and sweet. The Cantaloupe will feel heavy versus hollow, a weightiness which is an indicator of its water content. The ripe fruit releases its trademark floral musky aroma. It should yield just slightly to finger pressure at its blossom end, which is opposite of its scarred end, where it was removed from the stem. Like other melons, the Cantaloupe's flesh bears a central seed cavity. The Cantaloupe is unique to other melons in both fragrance and its flesh's texture. Most melons simply do not have the same dense and sticky flesh that a cantaloupe does.
Seasons/Availability
Cantaloupes are available year-round.
Current Facts
While there are dozens of cultivars of Cantaloupe, there are two specific varieties recognized: the true Cantaloupe, botanically known as Cucumis melo cantalupensis, and the North American cantaloupe, Cucumis melo reticulatus. Both varieties are members of the Cucurbitaceae family; the netted variety referred to in America as a Cantaloupe is in actuality botanically speaking a muskmelon. True Cantaloupes have little or no netting and are not grown commercially outside of Europe.
