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Health Benefits of Melons
Melons are the sweet, juicy fruits produced by members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae, and are related to squash and cucumbers (botanically, they’re also technically berries!). They originated in Africa and Southwest Asia and were grown by ancient Egyptians, and were brought to Europe as early as 1350 BC (melon seeds have been found in sacred wells in some areas of Sardinia). These fruits were among the earliest domesticated plants in the Old World, and were also one of the first crops to be brought to the New World by westerners. Almost 30 million tons of melons are produced worldwide each year!
In addition to the above, a number of heirloom melons exist—some of which are grown today by various Native American tribes in New Mexico, who carry the tradition of growing melons native to the Southwest United States. Some of these include the Corrales melon, which is oblong, sweet, and juicy; the Ojo Caliente melon, which is oval with juicy pale green flesh; the Santo Domingo casaba, which has wrinkly skin and pale, sweet, juicy flesh; and the San Juan melon, which resembles a honeydew and has sweet green flesh.
Studies of whole melon and melon juice consumption also support the idea that these fruits are a boon for our health! For example, in a 2019 crossover trial of 33 overweight or obese adults, consuming two cups of watermelon daily for four weeks led to significantly decreased body weight, reduced BMI, lowered systolic blood pressure, and decreased the participants’ waist-to-hip ratio, while also eliciting more robust satiety responses (including reduced hunger). In addition, the watermelon consumption led to lower oxidative stress and greater total antioxidant capacity in the blood. In a 2013 study of postmenopausal women, daily watermelon supplementation for six weeks led to decreases in arterial stiffness and aortic systolic blood pressure.
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Examples of Melons
- canary melon
- cantaloupe
- casaba
- Charentais
- Christmas melon
- Crenshaw melon
- derishi
- Galia
- honeydew
- horned melon
- melon pear
- muskmelon
- net melon
- ogen melon
- Persian melon
- Russian melon (aka Uzbek melon)
- sharlyn
- sweet melon
- watermelon
- winter melon
Nutrients in Melons
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Citations
Expand to see all scientific references for this article.
Ajiboye BO, et al. “Antidiabetic activity of watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus) juice in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.” J Diabetes Metab Disord. 2020 Apr 28;19(1):343-352. doi: 10.1007/s40200-020-00515-2. eCollection 2020 Jun.
Egea MB, et al. “Intake of Watermelon and Watermelon Byproducts in Male Mice Fed a Western-Style Obesogenic Diet Alters Hepatic Gene Expression Patterns, as Determined by RNA Sequencing.” Curr Dev Nutr. 2020 Jul 15;4(8):nzaa122. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzaa122. eCollection 2020 Aug.
Ellis AC, et al. “Watermelon Juice: a Novel Functional Food to Increase Circulating Lycopene in Older Adult Women.” Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2019 Jun;74(2):200-203. doi: 10.1007/s11130-019-00719-9.
Figueroa A, et al. “Effects of watermelon supplementation on arterial stiffness and wave reflection amplitude in postmenopausal women.” Menopause. 2013 May;20(5):573-7. doi: 10.1097/GME.0b013e3182733794.
Figueroa A, et al. “Influence of L-citrulline and watermelon supplementation on vascular function and exercise performance.” Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2017 Jan;20(1):92-98. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000340.
Gholampour-Azizi I, et al. “In vitro Antifungal Activity of Cucumis melo on Candida albicans.” Zahedan J Res Med Sci. 2015; 17(7). doi: 10.17795/zjrms1019.
Lee D, et al. “Therapeutic Effect of Cucumis melo L. Extract on Insulin Resistance and the Gut Microbiome in Lep ob/Lep ob Mice.” Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018 Feb 5;2018:8159261. doi: 10.1155/2018/8159261. eCollection 2018.
Lester G. “Melon (Cucumis melo L.) fruit nutritional quality and health functionality.” HortTechnology. 1997 Jul;7(3):222-227.
Lum T, et al. “Effects of Fresh Watermelon Consumption on the Acute Satiety Response and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Overweight and Obese Adults.” Nutrients. 2019 Mar 12;11(3):595. doi: 10.3390/nu11030595.
Mohammad MKA, et al. “Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. and Nakai) juice modulates oxidative damage induced by low dose X-ray in mice.” Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:512834. doi: 10.1155/2014/512834. Epub 2014 Apr 29.
Naito Y, et al. “Reduction of diabetes-induced renal oxidative stress by a cantaloupe melon extract/gliadin biopolymers, oxykine, in mice.” Biofactors. 2005;23(2):85-95. doi: 10.1002/biof.5520230204.
Parmar HS & Kar A. “Possible amelioration of atherogenic diet induced dyslipidemia, hypothyroidism and hyperglycemia by the peel extracts of Mangifera indica, Cucumis melo and Citrullus vulgaris fruits in rats.” Biofactors. 2008;33(1):13-24. doi: 10.1002/biof.5520330102.
Ridwan R, et al. “Supplementation of 100% Flesh Watermelon [ Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. and Nakai] Juice Improves Swimming Performance in Rats.” Prev Nutr Food Sci. 2019 Mar;24(1):41-48. doi: 10.3746/pnf.2019.24.1.41. Epub 2019 Mar 31.
Wong SY, et al. “Drinking Watermelon Juice Shift the Gut Microbiome in Diabetic Mice (P20-025-19).” Curr Dev Nutr. 2019 Jun; 3(Suppl 1): nzz040.P20-025-19. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzz040.P20-025-19
Zhang X, et al. “Anticancer Properties of Different Solvent Extracts of Cucumis melo L. Seeds and Whole Fruit and Their Metabolite Profiling Using HPLC and GC-MS.” Biomed Res Int. 2020 Feb 24;2020:5282949. doi: 10.1155/2020/5282949. eCollection 2020
