Hami melon enjoys the reputation of "King of Melons" in Xinjiang, so many people like to eat it in summer.
If you are interested in food culture, let's learn the name of cantaloupe today.
Hami melon (scientific name: Cucumismelovar.saccharinus) is a transformation of melon. Also known as snow melon and tribute melon, it is an excellent melon variety with round or oval fruit shape, which is produced in Xinjiang. Sweet in taste and big in fruit, Hami is the most famous one, so it is called Hami melon. Because it tastes sweet. According to historical records, during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, King Hami paid tribute to the court as a gift, hence the name "Hami Melon" and became the general name of Xinjiang Melon.
Hami melon is rich in variety resources. According to different maturity, it can be divided into early-maturing, middle-maturing and late-maturing varieties. The early and middle ripe ones are called summer melons, and the late ripe ones are called wax gourd. Early-maturing varieties mainly include Huangdanzi, Naxigan, a bag of sugar, Baozi Keqie, Shitian 41, etc., which are characterized by thin skin and fine meat and rich fragrance. Medium-ripe varieties mainly have crispy and juicy red hearts, delicate meat thickness and refreshing fragrance, which win people's love. The late-maturing varieties mainly include black eyebrows, green hemp skin, battery red, green-skinned red meat, green-skinned wax gourd, yellow-skinned white meat and so on. The characteristics of "black eyebrows" and "green hemp skin" are that the flesh of melon is pale blue, and after storage, the flesh changes from crisp and hard to soft, juicy, sweet and mellow.
physiological characteristics
Hami melon can be divided into two types: reticulated skin and smooth skin. According to the maturity, it is divided into early-maturing melon, summer melon (middle maturity) and wax gourd (late maturity). Different varieties of melons have different shapes, colors and dermatoglyphics. Common fine varieties are crisp red hearts and sweet black eyebrows (melon skin has dark stripes such as beautiful eyebrows, so it is called black eyebrows; "Honey is extremely sweet", which means flowered skirt in Uighur), battery red, iron sheet, green hemp skin, reticulated fragrant pear, Hami Jiageda, small green husk and white husk.
annual creeping or climbing herbs; Stems and branches are angular, with yellow-brown or white bristles and warty processes. Tendrils are slender, simple and puberulent. Petiole is 8-12 cm long, with grooves and short bristles; Leaf blade is thick papery, nearly round or kidney-shaped, 8-15 cm long and wide, rough on the top, coarsely white, coarsely hairy on the back along veins, undivided or 3-7-lobed at the edge, obtuse at the apex of lobes, serrated, truncated at the base or with semicircular bends, and palmately veined.
flowers are unisexual and monoecious. Male flowers: several clustered in leaf axils; Pedicel slender, .5-2 cm long, pilose; Calyx tube narrowly bell-shaped, densely white villous, 6-8 mm long, lobes subsubsubsubsubulate, erect or spreading, shorter than tube; Corolla yellow, 2 cm long, lobes oval, acute; Stamens 3, filaments very short, anther chamber bent, connective tip elongated; The degenerated pistil is about 1 mm long. Female flowers: solitary, with rough pedicels and pilose; Ovary oblong, densely villous and hirsute, style 1-2 mm long, stigma connivent, about 2 mm long.
morphological characteristics
annual creeping or climbing herbs; Stems and branches are angular, with yellow-brown or white bristles and warty processes. Tendrils are slender, simple and
pilose. Petiole is 8-12 cm long, with grooves and short bristles; Leaf blade is thick papery, nearly round or kidney-shaped, 8-15 cm long and wide, rough on the top, coarsely white, coarsely hairy on the back along veins, undivided or 3-7-lobed at the edge, obtuse at the apex of lobes, serrated, truncated at the base or with semicircular bends, and palmately veined.
flowers are unisexual and monoecious. Male flowers: several clustered in leaf axils; Pedicel slender, .5-2 cm long, pilose; Calyx tube narrowly bell-shaped, densely white villous, 6-8 mm long, lobes subsubsubsubsubulate, erect or spreading, shorter than tube; Corolla yellow, 2 cm long, lobes oval, acute; Stamens 3, filaments very short, anther chamber bent, connective tip elongated; The degenerated pistil is about 1 mm long.
Female flowers: solitary, with rough pedicels and pilose; Ovary oblong, densely villous and hirsute, style 1-2 mm long, stigma connivent, about 2 mm long.
The shape and color of the fruit vary from variety to variety, usually spherical or oblong, with smooth peel, longitudinal grooves or stripes, no spines, white, yellow or green pulp, and sweet smell. The seeds are dirty white or yellowish white, oval or oblong, with sharp apex, blunt base, smooth surface and no edge. Flower and fruit period in summer.
nutritional value
cantaloupe is not only sweet, but also nutritious. According to the analysis, the dry matter of cantaloupe contains 4.6%-15.8% of sugar, 2.6%-6.7% of cellulose, malic acid, pectin, vitamins A, B, C, niacin and elements such as calcium, phosphorus and iron. The iron content is two or three times more than that of chicken and 17 times higher than that of milk. Xinjiang people love to eat cantaloupes, and it is not unreasonable to think that eating more melons can cure diseases and prolong life. In addition to fresh food, dried melon, preserved melon and melon juice can also be made. Hami melon peeler can be used in fruit and vegetable peeler, which is suitable for large-scale food processing.
melon seeds can be used as medicine to treat diseases, and feeding the skin of melon to sheep can promote fat and gain weight. Hami melon seeds can be used as essential oil, which are rich in medicinal, beauty, health care and physiological activities. They are refined by pure physical and cold pressing methods. Its color is golden, its taste is fragrant, and it has a pleasant fruit taste; The unique medicinal, cosmetic and health-care nutrients in Hami melon seeds are fully preserved without being destroyed. With super antioxidant capacity, it is a first-class pure natural essential oil for medicine, beauty, health care and nutrition, and can be widely used in the fields of medicine, beauty, health care and nutrition food.
There are .4g of protein, .3g of fat and 2g of ash in every 1g of melon meat. Among them, 14 mg of calcium, 1 mg of phosphorus and 1 mg of iron. Please don't underestimate this 1 mg of iron, which has a great relationship with the hematopoietic function and development of the human body. The content of vitamins in Hami melon meat is not inferior to other fruits. In the fresh melon meat of Hami melon, the vitamin content is 4 to 7 times higher than that of watermelon, 6 times higher than that of apple and 1.3 times higher than that of apricot. These ingredients are beneficial to the work of human heart and liver and the activities of intestinal system, promoting endocrine and hematopoietic functions and strengthening the digestive process.
Hami melon has the reputation of "the king of melons", with high sugar content, various shapes and unique flavor, some with creamy flavor and some with lemon flavor, but all of them are sweet as honey, and they are well-known at home and abroad. Among many cantaloupe varieties, "Crispy Hearts" and "Huang Jinlong" have the best quality. Hami melon is not only delicious, but also rich in nutrition and high in medicinal value.
Precautions
Handle cantaloupe with care, and don't hurt the skin. Injured melons are easy to deteriorate and rot and cannot be stored. Hami melon is cool, so it is not advisable to eat too much to avoid diarrhea. Hami melon contains more sugar, so diabetics should be careful. Hami melons are mostly oval or olive-shaped. Its colors are fruit green with plaid, golden yellow, cyan and so on. Smell melons with your nose, which are generally fragrant and have moderate maturity. Those with no fragrance or indifferent fragrance are of poor maturity and can be eaten later. When picking melons, you can touch them with your hands. If the melons are solid, the maturity will be moderate.
if it's too hard, it's not ripe; if it's too soft, it's too mature. The pulp of melon is light green and crisp when eaten. If it is golden yellow, it is sticky and white and soft and juicy. In a word, there are many kinds of cantaloupes. I hope you will pay attention to these points when choosing them. Hami melon is cool and should not be eaten too much to avoid diarrhea. People suffering from beriberi, jaundice, abdominal distension, loose stool, cold cough and asthma, postpartum and post-illness should not eat more; Therefore, pregnant women can eat cantaloupe properly during pregnancy, and don't eat it after delivery. Because cantaloupe is cold. It's also best not to eat if you are deficient in cold constitution.