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Horned Melon
Looking for something fun to do with the kids; or to amaze your co-workers with. Try putting a horned melon in your lunch box. This unique fruit doesn’t stop at its horned oval shape to shock you. The horned melon grows on a vine like a pumpkin; but usually in Africa where it originated in the Kalahari. Fortunately for America it has debuted in California and also New Zealand. I will be awaiting the appearance of these at market. I’m still trying to picture about a hundred or so attached to a common vine. That’s not all, the leaves and stems have hair on them! I’m not waiting in that field for the Great Pumpkin. You can pick the fruit green and but should allow it to ripen to its full-orange bumpy self. The yellow-green gelatinous pulp is adorned with cucumber-like seeds. So it looks a little scary; or something like a puffer fish; I assure you it won’t bite back. Horned melons are edible and like any melon are mostly eaten raw. Sprinkle with some sugar, and you got a good thing going on. The fruit tastes like a mix of cucumber and kiwifruit; however when picked fully ripe, it mimics the banana in flavor. The seeds are edible as well. I mean once you get up the nerve to break open the horned exterior to eat the flesh you might as well consider the seeds, right? Vitamins, Minerals and Phytochemical Components So, what’s a melon good for? You guessed it; iron, and this melon’s has it – it contains three times as much as watermelon Medicinal Uses Based on Scientific Studies If you want a natural food to address your iron needs this melon can help with fatigue; lack of energy and poor a poor immune system. All these symptoms of anemia can be treated with iron(1). References 1. St. Lifer, Holly (2005). A taste of the exotic. Oxygen Magazine #68, pg. 102
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