Cantaloupe is a seasonal fruit and May brings the right time to start purchasing cantaloupe. To select a ripe cantaloupe, look for tan cantaloupe with light green lines across it, and avoid choosing melons with brown or soft spots. The melon should be firm but not too soft or too hard. Smell the melon at the stem core (where it was cut) and it should have a good cantaloupe smell; those without smell are under-ripe, and those with unpleasing odor are over-ripe.
If you are going to wait several days before cutting the melon, then you may want to choose one that is more firm and with little cantaloupe smell at the core. Besides being delicious, cantaloupes are a very healthy food to eat. Cantaloupes provide excellent sources of antioxidant vitamins such as Vitamin C and Vitamin A. They are also high in powerful nutrients like potassium, folate, copper, Vitamin B, Vitamin K, magnesium and fiber.
Did you know the seeds of cantaloupes are edible? Yes, eat the seeds and get plenty of omega-3 fat in the form of alpha-linoleic acid. You can roast the seeds, blend the seeds into smoothies, or even add them to salads and have a good serving of omega-3 fat. Omega-3 is important to help fight heart disease and diabetes. Cantaloupes contain only 54 calories per cup, which makes this melon a low-calorie treat, too!
