With their odd shape and spiked orange exterior, the horned melons rests in the produce aisle, looking more like something you’d pass by than purchase. Buying one is easy enough, but knowing when it is actualy ready to eat is the real challenge. How do you know when it’s ripe? That’s another matter entirely.
Timing determines whether or not you have a good fruit or bad one. Growing fruit take time. First, the fruit will be green and tiny with tender spikes on its exterior. At that point, it is starchy and white inside and shouldn’t be eaten.
How to Know if Horned Melon Is Ripe
Over a few weeks, the fruit become bigger and firmer in texture until the outer skin hardens. The interior also starts thickening up but is still quite sour tasting (more like a cucumber minus the sugar). Don’t pick or purchase these fruits until they has turned some shade of red. It’s a visual change that signals ripeness: The green skin yellows and eventually goes bright orange. Sugar formation is under way; the unpleasantness fades.
When a horned melon are ripe, its spines are still firm but the skin is brilliant orange. Cut it open and you’ll see white seeds embedded in lime-green jelly. At this point the fruit is best to eat. The cucumber-lime-banana flavor is peaking.
After this point, it will start to ferment, turn dark red-orange, and get mushy on the inside; that is when it is time to compost it rather than eat it fresh. The thick leathery rind protects the delicate interior but is not edible itself. The horn-like protrusions reach as much as 15 millimeters in length. Ripe ones is rigid; overripe ones become soft. Once the melon has been sitting around too long, the horns will be soft, too.
Then there’s the jelly within the sacs. That’s the good stuff. Scoop it all out, along with seeds (edible, crunchy). The white pith in the center can be bitter to some, but it comes out easily if you scoop it correctly.
How do you eat a horned melon? First pick one that’s heavy for its size, i.e., juicier. Then wash the melon thoroughy under running water, as there will be dirt between the spines. Using a sharp knife, cut it in half lengthwise. Watch out for the prickles! Spoon out the jelly, or squeeze each half into a bowl.
Flavor-wise, adding some lime juice and salt makes it taste better, not less. The empty orange shell make an odd serving container for salads or even cocktails.
How to store? It depends which fruit we’re talking about. For whole uncut melons: Keep them at room temperature out of direct sunlight, where they can last for months. Melons are tough; their heavy rind keeps them safe. If conditions require chilling (they really don’t), use caution: Chilling damages both flesh and skin, and below 50 degrees F., melons develops dark spots. Cut melon is another story; it does not keep well. Eat within several days, or freeze for future smoothie ingredients.
First: What’s the horned melon? “It is ninety-five percent water,” which makes it a great hydrating snack on a hot day; “it has a lot of vitamin C and a lot of vitamin A“; that’s beneficial to your skin and your immune system; it contains iron and magnesium; it’s not very caloric so it’s good for weight management. And: Unlike dragon fruit or passion fruit, it stands out for its unique texture and high water retention.
The fruit varies based off growing conditions. The plants is native to sub-Saharan Africa. They prefer a hot, dry climate. They are drought tolerant once established. Best soil conditions is well-drained sandy loam. To help harvest (and also provide better air circulation), gardeners frequently train the vines onto trellises. If grown indoors in a greenhouse, you might of have to hand-pollinate.
With whatever you find, whether bought or grown, seek out those with bright color and firm spines. Taste tests aren’t very useful because, duh, who knows what you’re getting until you’ve got it home? It’s about looks most of all here. Be careful handling these fruits. Puncture wounds is common with their sharp horn-like spines; always wear gloves when harvesting.
To test ripeness, press down on the base of one spine. If the spine is rigid, the fruit is ripe; if it’s not, it’s too ripe. The heavier fruits contains more jelly within them. Seeds are easy to save for future use. After rinsing them well, let them dry thoroughly; store them in a cool dry place where they’ll remain viable for a few years.
Turns out there’s more to the horned melon than its unusual appearance. It’s both sweet and savory, which isn’t something many fruits achieve. And it traveled out of the Kalahari desert and onto California and New Zealand farms. Buying one becomes simpler once you know how to tell what’s good by its textures and colors. When you spy those spiny orange babies at the market, keep in mind: Patience is a virtue. The green jello within is worth the wait.