As the weather gets warmer, many people prefer fruits with plenty of moisture, and taking a bite of a "watery" fruit in a hot day can be both sweet and thirst-quenching.
When it comes to fruits with plenty of moisture, honeydew melons can be completely handled, and the taste is still very "fragrant", and the price is not expensive, which is really close to the people! In this article, let's talk about honeydew melons.
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How nutritious is honeydew melon?
Honeydew melon is what we usually call melon, also called melon, which is a plant of the cucumber genus in the Cucurbitaceae family. In terms of cultivation, it can be divided into thick-skinned melon and thin-skinned melon, among which thin-skinned melon is Chinese melon, oriental melon or muskmelon, etc., which has an excellent taste.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the total area of melon cultivation in the world in 2020 reached 1.07 million square hectares, with an output of 28 million tons, of which the mainland accounted for about 49% of the melon production, ranking first in the world. It can be seen that mainland residents have a high degree of love for honeydew melons.
Photographed by the author
A total of 258 aroma substances have been detected from different varieties of honeydew melon fruits, including esters, alcohols, aldehydes and volatile terpenoids.
As for the nutrition of honeydew melon, the most prominent thing is that the water content is sufficient, almost all of them are above 90%, which is a veritable good helper for hydration!
In terms of vitamin C content that everyone is concerned about, the data in the "Chinese Food Composition Table" shows that the vitamin C content of honeydew melon is only 15mg/100g, which is relatively low in fruits, only 1/2 of oranges. However, there are differences in the vitamin C content of different varieties of honeydew melon, some researchers have tested the vitamin C content of 6 thick-skinned honeydew melon varieties in Xiqing District, Tianjin, including milk fragrant honey, Beihai No. 1, Fengjin No. 6, Xiangfei Xiaomi, Coca-honey, Jiuhongrui, and found that their vitamin C content is higher than 50mg/100g, and the vitamin C content of Beihai No. 1 variety is the highest, up to 80mg/100g, and eating 100g can meet 80% of the daily vitamin C needs of ordinary adults. It's still good.
Figure: Edible part 100g honeydew melon, about 1 palm taken by the author
The potassium content of honeydew melon is medium in fruits, mostly about 150mg/100g, and some can reach about 300mg/100g, and the potassium content of honeydew melon in Hainan is higher, 400mg/100g, eating 100g can meet 20% of the daily potassium needs of ordinary adults, which is beneficial to maintaining blood pressure.
In addition, the flesh of honeydew melon is dark and light, and carotenoids are the main pigments that form the color of orange melon pulp, which is very beneficial to eye health and has antioxidant effects. The content of carotenoids in melons with different flesh colors was different, and the content of carotenoids in melons with orange flesh was the highest, followed by light orange and red flesh types, and white flesh type was the lowest.
Melon is sweet, but low in calories
Honeydew melon tastes very sweet, so many people think it is high in calories, but in fact, most of the calories of honeydew melons are very low, almost no more than 40kcal/100g, which is lower than the oranges, apples, grapes, etc. we usually eat.
According to the data in the "Chinese Food Composition Table", the calories of cantaloupe are 34kcal/100g, while the calories of lingmuloupe are only 4kcal/100g, which is really friendly to friends who want to lose weight!
As for why honeydew melon is so sweet, it is mainly because the sugar composition of honeydew melon is composed of fructose, glucose and sucrose, of which fructose content is relatively rich, fructose is the sweetest of these sugars, and has cold and sweet characteristics, when the temperature is below 40 °C, the lower the temperature, the sweeter the taste.
Therefore, friends who usually eat honeydew melons will find that the same honeydew melon tastes sweeter after refrigeration compared with storage at room temperature.
Diabetics can also eat honeydew melon
Many people believe that honeydew melons have a high GI (glycemic index), so many diabetics are afraid to eat honeydew melons.
In fact, even if your blood sugar is high, you don't have to completely reject the deliciousness of honeydew melon. Although honeydew melons have a higher GI than apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, pineapples, etc., honeydew melons generally have a lower sugar content. When we look at the effect of a food on blood sugar, we should not only look at the GI value, but also take into account the GL (glycemic load), GL<10 is a low GL food, indicating that it has less impact on blood sugar.
GL = Available carbohydrates in food (g) × GI÷100
Take the cantaloupe that everyone often eats, the GI value of cantaloupe is as high as 70, which can be regarded as a high GI fruit, but its carbohydrate content is only 7.9g/100g, and the insoluble dietary fiber is 0.2g/100g. In other words, diabetics eating 100g of cantaloupe will not cause large fluctuations in blood sugar.
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The selection of honeydew melons
Now is the time to eat honeydew melon, many friends are already eager to try, how to choose honeydew melon is the top priority.
There are many varieties of honeydew melons, and if you want to buy something delicious, it is very important to choose the right variety. Xiangfei Xiaomi, Beihai No. 1, Jinlong, Sheep's Horn Honey, Xizhou Honey, these varieties are relatively sweet. Generally speaking, Xinjiang has long sunshine hours in summer, large temperature difference between day and night, and little rainfall, and the melons grown taste good.
In addition, the flesh of Xizhou honey is orange-red, the flesh of red heart crisp and Yellow River honeydew melon is orange-red, the flesh of Zhongtian, Beihai No. 1, milk honey and Jinxiangyu melon is white, the flesh of Fengjin No. 6 and Xiangfei Xiaomi is yellow, and the flesh of croissant honey and delicious honey is green, so we can preferably choose the dark flesh color.
Honeydew melon is a breathing leap fruit, if it is not ripe when you buy it, you can put it together with other fruits that are ripe, such as bananas and apples.
Wash it even if you don't eat the skin!
Most people eat honeydew melons without washing them, and they just cut them and eat them, which poses a risk of food poisoning. Honeydew melons may carry listeria, commonly known as the "refrigerator killer". Listeria monocytogenes is a harmful bacterium that can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, muscle aches, and in severe cases, coma, shock, and death.
According to related reports, a farm in Australia once caused some cantaloupe to be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, resulting in people getting sick and dying. This is mainly because the surface of cantaloupe is rough and wrinkled, and Listeria monocytogenes is a common bacteria in the soil, so cantaloupe is an easy fruit.
The Centre for Food Safety of Hong Kong reminds that before consuming cantaloupe, you need to scrub the surface of the whole cantaloupe with a clean brush under running water, and then cut it before eating, and it is recommended to eat it as soon as possible.
So, to be on the safe side, remember to wash your melons before eating them!
Summary:
The temperature is getting hotter and hotter, and the honey melons that are as sweet as honey and have plenty of moisture are arranged quickly! Hydration, vitamin C, potassium, and carotene are so refreshing! Remember to refrigerate before eating sweeter!
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[7] The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. https://www.cfs.gov.hk/sc_chi/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_141_03.html?continueFlag=a62df2743e84be762c56e10f74ddc812 Centre for Food Safety
Planning and production
Author丨Xue Qingxin is a registered dietitian
Review丨Zhang Yu, Researcher/Ph.D., Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Health Science Popularization Expert
Planning丨Zhong Yanping
Editor丨Zhong Yanping
Reviewer丨Xu Lai Linlin