Where cantaloupe grows. Calorie content, chemical composition and beneficial properties of cantaloupe. How to use so as not to harm yourself. Recipes with cantaloupe, interesting facts from the history of the sweet fruit. The benefits of cantaloupe for the body are provided by:
- Ascorbic acid is a participant in all organic processes: redox, collagen and elastin production, and the process of hematopoiesis.
- Potassium is a regulator of the excretory system, participates in the formation of nerve fibers, maintains the heart rate necessary for normal life.
- Sodium - maintains water and electrolyte balance, enhances the action of adrenaline, transports glucose throughout the body.
- Phosphorus - in combination with potassium and calcium, provides the strength of the structure of bone and cartilage tissue.
- Magnesium is one of the main components of protein metabolism, activates the release of enzymes, helps to assimilate B vitamins.
- Calcium is a building material for organic tissues: bones, cartilage, ligaments, muscle and nerve fibers.
Traditional medicine recommends including melon in the diet after blood loss and when recovering from infectious diseases.
Useful properties of cantaloupe
The beneficial properties of cantaloupe are preserved after culinary processing - Thais prefer to use it dried or dried.
Melon consumption:
- Improves the quality of skin and hair, normalizes sebum production, stimulates hair follicles and collagen production;
- Maintains water and electrolyte balance, slows down age-related changes;
- Improves the quality of vision, reduces the possibility of developing macular retinal degeneration;
- Protects from harmful UV radiation;
- Reduces the risk of bronchial asthma;
- Normalizes blood pressure, helps prevent stroke and avoid heart attack;
- Prevents loss of muscle mass during weight loss;
- Plays the role of an antioxidant, prevents the malignancy of colon cells;
- Accelerates peristalsis, does not allow the accumulation of slags and toxins in the intestines;
- Helps prevent dehydration in hot climates
- Has anti-inflammatory effect;
- It removes excess cholesterol, prevents the accumulation of calculi in the kidneys, gall bladder and joints.
A glass with a slide of chopped pulp of Thai melon fully satisfies the body's need for ascorbic acid during the day. Eating so much delicious food is not at all difficult - it is more difficult to keep from overeating.
Harm and contraindications to the use of cantaloupe
Melon should not be introduced into the diet with individual intolerance.
Contraindications to the use of cantaloupe are as follows:
- Diabetes mellitus - the pulp is high in sugar.
- Propensity to diarrhea, as consumption accelerates peristalsis.
- Large stones in the kidneys or gallbladder - you can provoke the movement of stones.
- Chronic pancreatitis at the stage of exacerbation - stimulation of enzymes increases the load on the organ.
- You should not include cantaloupe in the daily menu as breakfast - eating on an empty stomach increases gas production.
- Joint use with whole milk causes prolonged diarrhea, increases the likelihood of dysbiosis.
- Melon with honey can provoke intestinal obstruction - this combination literally "glues" intestinal loops, this combination is especially dangerous for young children.
- Cantaloupe and alcohol increase the likelihood of liver colic - the consequences are difficult to predict. Symptoms of intoxication may appear - vomiting and diarrhea, or persistent constipation.
If you limit consumption to a small piece, adults will not experience any negative processes after entering cantaloupe into the daily menu.
Melon should be completely excluded from the diet during lactation - such an addition to the daily menu causes colic and loose, greenish stools in the baby.
Cantaloupe should be washed thoroughly before consuming it raw. Salmonella is parasitic on its peel: this pathogenic flora is extremely dangerous for the human body; if it gets orally, it develops an infectious disease of the gastrointestinal tract - salmonellosis.
Cantaloupe recipes
When choosing cantaloupe, you need to pay attention to the peel - knock on it, easily scratch it with your finger. The ripeness of the fruit is indicated by: a delicious melon aroma, a dense elastic crust, a dull sound and a green surface, which immediately appears under the wax pattern. If the skin is soft, the patterns have separated, but moisture has appeared, you do not need to buy cantaloupe, it is overripe. You should abandon the purchase if the plaque does not lend itself - the melon is green, not suitable for culinary processing.
Cantaloupe recipes:
- Italian salad … Ingredients: melon - about a glass of pulp, diced, greens - 100 g each - corn, arugula, marjoram, 100 g of ham with a little lard. For dressing salt and pepper and, as in classic Italian salads, olive oil and lemon juice, 1, 5-2 tablespoons. Prepare the dish in advance. Greens are laid out on it as it seems beautiful, ham cut into thin strips is mixed with melon cubes, spread on greens. Mix the dressing separately and then pour over the contents of the plate.
- Chicken salad … Chicken fillet is marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, pepper and salt for 30 minutes. Then they bake on the grill - in a frying pan or in the oven, the desired taste will not work, but for a home option, you can choose this method as well. The fillet is cooled, cut into strips, mixed with cantaloupe pulp cubes and cucumber slices. The dressing is mixed separately: mayonnaise, unsweetened yogurt, chopped tarragon. Salt and pepper the salad to taste. You can experiment with the amount of ingredients. The dish is “heavy” on the stomach and is not suitable for a diet, despite the low calorie ingredients and high nutrient content.
- Smoothie … The main ingredients are banana and melon, the pulp of cantaloupe is taken from about a quarter of the fruit. The banana is pre-frozen - it must spend at least 6 hours in the freezer, along with the peel. When cooking, the banana is allowed to warm up for 2 minutes - so that it can be peeled, the pulp is cut into pieces and sent to a blender. About 2 tablespoons of milk powder, melon pulp, orange juice concentrate - 1 tablespoon, the same amount of honey and vanilla extract are also sent to the blender bowl. Pour low-fat unsweetened yogurt (130 g) and whisk everything. Serve immediately, without cooling, until the structure is lush. Lay out on the bowls with a spoon. You can reduce the amount of honey, replace the orange concentrate with natural orange juice by adding zest. In this case, the taste will be more mature, with a pleasant bitterness.
- Cantaloupe and pineapple cocktail … Ingredients: half a very ripe cantaloupe, half a pineapple, 3 glasses of pineapple juice - you can from a bag, 2, 5 glasses of sparkling mineral water, 3 glasses of mango nectar. Pineapple is cut into small slices, and small balls are made from the melon pulp using a special spoon. Mix mango nectar and pineapple juice, stir well and leave to cool in the refrigerator, where pineapple pieces and melon balls are already located. The sparkling water is cooled separately. As soon as everything reaches the desired temperature, soda is poured into the juice mixture, prepared fruits are added and only then poured into glasses.
- Pickled cantaloupe … Syrup is boiled - half a glass of sugar in a glass of water, brought to a boil, cooled on ice. Pour a glass of basil leaves into a blender, pour in a third of a glass of lime juice, mix. Then combine the mixture from the blender with sugar water. "Marinade" is put into the refrigerator and left for 2 hours, stirring constantly. Then the melon pulp, cut into cubes, is dipped in the marinade, lemon juice and sugar are added, and left for another hour. You can sprinkle with cinnamon for taste. It should be infused for an hour.
If, after purchasing the melon at home, they saw that it did not live up to expectations - overripe, soft, then you should not throw it away. It can be dried. At home, the fruit is cut into thin slices and hung in the sun, covering the top with clean gauze - from flies. After 4-5 days, the strips can be eaten. If, after cutting, roll melon slices in poppy seeds or coconut flakes, you get "oriental sweets".
In the industrial production of dried cantaloupe, the whole fruit is spread in the sun, after 2 days the peel is washed and dried again in the sun. Cut into strips, removing seeds and skins - along with a light green layer, which many people eat. Then they are laid out again or hung in the sun, where they wither for up to 12 days. Such dried fruits are elastic and melt in the mouth - they are woven into braids or twisted into rings. Store wrapped in parchment paper in a cool, dark place.
Interesting facts about cantaloupe
The first mentions of cantaloupe, judging by the drawings, were found in the annals of the peoples of ancient India. These records date from 2000 BC.
Cantaloupe owes its name to the Pope. He received an exquisite dessert from the Crusaders as a gift and, appreciating the taste of the fruit, sent the seeds to his estate in Cantalupia. The plant was grown for a long time only on the estate of the Pope, the varieties were ennobled, and only then the melon gained popularity in Europe.
On the canvases of Dutch artists, cut cantaloupe is almost always present in still lifes.
Now in the United States, the concepts of "melon" and "cantaloupe" are synonyms. The product is appreciated for its exquisite taste and musky aroma. Due to the smell, perfumers include notes in perfumes and creams - essential oil is also extracted from the pulp.
Trace elements from cantaloupe are easily absorbed - iron in it is 1.5-2 times more than in chicken fillet, and 17 times more than milk.
Dried cantaloupe can be used for diabetes mellitus - it contains 5 times less sugar than candied fruits, and its beneficial properties are preserved.
On the territory of Tsarist Russia, agricultural crops were successfully cultivated - varieties were bred for a temperate and even for a continental climate. Melon was grown up to the 50s, after the Great Patriotic War. The most popular varieties are Anastasia and Tsaritsyn Day. Now on the territory of the former CIS, cantaloupe is almost not grown - except in the territory of Uzbekistan and in the south of Ukraine. What this is connected with is not clear, the culture is not capricious and tolerates climatic changes well.
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