As soon as they call a fragrant melon!
Big berry, melon fruit, sweet vegetable. The tamed cultural melon managed to completely confuse scientists with its mystery. It’s just right to guess riddles: sweet, but not fruit, growing on the ridge, but not a vegetable, with seeds, but not a berry. So who is she, melon - is it a berry, fruit or vegetable?
How melon grows
It is not by chance that scientists cannot unambiguously classify melon. Moreover, by the type of stem, the plant is an annual grass, and is grown as a gourd. The closest relatives of the melon are vegetables (pumpkin, cucumber), berries (watermelon), grassy vines (loofah, or vegetable washcloth).
Melon grows on melon. It has a long grassy stem with a length of two to four meters and a powerful root system, deepened into the soil by a meter and to the sides - by two meters.
In order for the melon to bear fruit well, it needs to create certain conditions: good lighting, dry air and air temperature from 25 to 38 degrees. Water the plant should be moderate, but regularly. Dry soil will not destroy the plant, but will not affect the taste of the fruit for the better.
The southern melon tastes sweet, aromatic, sugar. The most common sort of "torpedo" is very tasty and enjoys the deserved love of Russians. Of the other sweet melons in Central Asia, varieties of Zarda, Handalaki, and America are grown.
Melon is a cultivated plant that is bred exclusively through selection. The first images of melon fruit are found on Egyptian household items and art. However, scientists could not find the direct ancestors of modern melon. Wild melons today grow in northern Africa, in India and in northwest Iran. The fruits of these plants are unsweetened and taste like cucumbers, which further complicates the classification of melons. Is it a berry, fruit or vegetable - the issue is still relevant.
To date, less thermophilic northern varieties have been created. They are not so sweet, but they tolerate a cool climate. The fruits of ripe melons, depending on the variety, can weigh from a few grams to 16 and even 20 kilograms.
On one stalk, seven to two to three specimens can mature. They have a beautiful rounded shape resembling a sphere or cylinder. The color of melon fruit varies: they can be yellow, brown, white and even striped green.
Hypothesis One: Melon is a Fruit
One would like to call melon fruit. It is sweet, juicy, remarkably tasty in light fruit salads. As in any fruit, in a melon there are a lot of useful vitamins and minerals: ascorbic and folic acid, silicon, iron, magnesium, sodium.
But fruits are plants whose fruits grow mainly on trees, less often on bushes. Melon is conveniently settled on the ground, like some kind of vegetable or berry. And the stalks are grassy, so it’s clearly not suitable for the “fruit classification”. To the question "Is melon a berry, fruit or vegetable?" It is difficult to give a definite answer. But one thing is clear: obviously not a fruit, despite the sweet taste, fruity aroma and juicy flesh.
Hypothesis two: melon is a vegetable
It is strange to think of melon as a vegetable, but for biologists such a definition is logical. The fact is that the edible fruits that give herbaceous plants (actually herbs) are called vegetables.
The closest relatives of the melon are a juicy healthy cucumber and an orange beauty melon. In favor of the "vegetable classification" is the fact that the Japanese, for example, grow tasty, but not at all sweet varieties of melons and eat them in the form of vegetable dishes.
If you deeply understand the question of what a melon is - is it a berry, fruit or vegetable, then from the point of view of biology, the following arguments can be made in favor of the vegetable theory:
• melon leaves are very similar to cucumber leaves with the shape and texture of the surface;
• the color of the flowers and their size for the cucumber and melon are identical;
• like a cucumber, the root system of the melon develops in breadth, does not tolerate transplantation, since the roots are easily injured.
If you compare the whip of cucumber and melon
Melon has similar biological characteristics not only with cucumber, but also with pumpkin, zucchini and even watermelons. Scientists attributed the mysterious plant to the class of pumpkin. But just to somehow solve the problem of classification of melon fruit. Judging by the biological characteristics of melon, really, the closest thing to vegetables. However, for a comprehensive answer to the question of what is melon - is it a berry, fruit or vegetable, the similarity of biological signs is clearly not enough.
Watermelon, in any case, does not exactly apply to vegetables, but it has common signs with melon. In addition, it is not clear what to do with sweet, juicy and aromatic pulp: this is clearly not a sign of vegetables.
Attempts to find a compromise ended in the use of vague definitions for melons. For example, because of the atypical sweetness and active use in cooking, melon has the name of a dessert vegetable. In addition, the fruit of the melon is called pumpkin, as well as false berry. So what is melon - is it a berry, fruit or vegetable?
Hypothesis Three: Melon is a Berry
The hypothesis that melon is a berry also has a right to exist. Someone believes that these are true. Who actively advocates the belonging of melon fruits to vegetables.
In favor of berry classification melon is evidenced by several points:
• like all berries suitable for consumption, the melon is very juicy;
• grows on the ground, like many berries (strawberries, strawberries, cloudberries, lingonberries);
• has a pleasant sweet taste;
• has all the signs of a berry: thin skin, juicy middle and hard seeds inside.
The latter symptom applies equally to fruits. In this sense, the difference from fruits from berries is the size of the fruit and its formation exclusively on the branches of a tree or bush. As for the melon, this is a gourd. Like watermelon, it is called a giant berry, or false berry.
An important point in determining what a melon is - it is a berry, fruit or vegetable, has the size of the fruit and the number of seeds. Unlike real berries, melon is a real giant. However, this merit belongs entirely to breeders, for many centuries and even millennia achieving this result. In addition, melon has much more seeds than normal berries.
That is, melon is not really a berry. It turns out that the plant has biological characteristics of two main types of fruits: vegetables and berries. Hence the ambivalent attempts to define melon as a pumpkin (vegetable classification) or false berry (berry classification).
By and large, for an ordinary consumer, the answer to the question of what a melon is is a berry, fruit or vegetable does not matter. The main thing is that the sweet juicy pulp is very tasty, and also useful.
What is useful melon
Melon has a sweet, slightly spicy aroma, remotely resembling cucumber and pumpkin freshness. The peel of the fetus is rough, and the flesh is tender and juicy. Depending on the variety, melons vary in sweetness and density of the pulp.
The benefits of melon are explained by its chemical composition. The most important substances for human health were found in melon pulp, including powerful antioxidants and immunomodulators:
• vitamin C;
• folic acid;
• amino acid complex;
• vitamin complex (vitamins A, E, almost the entire group B);
• micro- and macrocells, including silicon, zinc, cobalt, iron, phosphorus, manganese, iodine, magnesium, sulfur, sodium, potassium, chlorine;
• organic acids.
Melon copes well with edema and inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system, helps the body defeat the common cold, has a soft laxative effect on the intestines, helps get rid of toxins and normalizes digestion.
People who regularly use slices of melon pulp rarely suffer from diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidneys, and digestive organs. Melon is the prevention of atherosclerosis, urolithiasis, thyroid pathology. In addition, due to the carbohydrates contained in the pumpkin, brain activity is stimulated.
Melon at the same time helps the brain to work well and soothes the nervous system, helps get rid of insomnia and irritability. Melon desserts are very useful for pregnant women. Due to the high content of folic acid in the body of a pregnant woman, a normal placenta is formed, and in the fetal body - the nervous system without pathologies.
How to eat melon
A wonderful and mysterious melon in itself is a wonderful full-fledged dessert. That is why it is not recommended to eat it after a plentiful feast: it will be difficult for the stomach to process slices saturated with sugars. You can’t eat melon on an empty stomach.
The most correct option is to eat melon slices two hours after the main meal. It will be a tasty, healthy and nutritious snack.
In addition, a variety of dessert dishes, salads, pastries, preserves, jams, and fruit drinks can be prepared from melon. It all depends on how the melon is perceived - like a berry, fruit or vegetable.
For example, a wonderful salad with melon, in which it acts as a vegetable component, despite the sweet taste.
Ingredients:
• 2-3 sheets of lettuce;
• two hundred grams of melon pulp;
• six pieces of king prawns;
• a tablespoon of olive or mustard oil;
• a tablespoon of sesame seeds;
• a teaspoon of white balsamic vinegar (optional).
The cooking is very simple.
Melon should be cut into small cubes, pick the salad by hand, boil the shrimp in salted water. Mix all the components, season with oil-vinegar dressing, garnish with a tinned dressing.
The unusual fruit of melon is a true work of art of selection. Thanks to the efforts of ancient breeders, today we enjoy the wonderful taste and inimitable aroma of pumpkin false berries.
