Melons: Orbs of Nutritional Surprise

Written by: Geneva Collins

Creamy-veined cantaloupes, luminous green honeydews and jagged-striped watermelons are heaped high on produce counters this time of year, their fragrant perfume hinting at the sweet, juicy flesh inside.

But there's more than mere refreshment at hand when you carve a wedge from one of those sun-warmed orbs. Here are some reasons to brake next time you pass a farm stand hawking melons:

Lycopene
Watermelon's luscious red color is due to the antioxidant lycopene, a member of the large carotenoid family that also includes beta-carotene and lutein. A source of recent scientific attention, lycopene is being tested in clinical trials on men with prostate cancer. Other studies have found associations between higher concentrations of lycopene in the blood and lower risks of breast and bladder cancers.

"We know that carotenoids are absorbed at different levels in the body [and that] prostate and breast tissue accumulate lycopene," explains Frederick Khachik, a carotenoids specialist and senior research scientist at the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Lycopene is mostly found in tomatoes and tomato products--such as spaghetti sauce and tomato juice--but for those averse to the tomato, watermelon fortunately does the job (as do pink grapefruit and papaya). In fact, a 13-ounce (10 inches by 1 inch) slice of watermelon contains nearly 15 milligrams of lycopene. That's about half the amount in a half-cup of spaghetti sauce, but four times the amount in a medium raw tomato.

Folate
Cantaloupe is considered a good source of folate--the B vitamin that helps prevent neural tube defects and Down syndrome in newborns, and may reduce the risks of heart disease and colon cancer. The Food and Drug Administration considers folate so important that it requires manufacturers to fortify grain products (bread, cereal, pasta) with folic acid, the vitamin's synthetic form.

Vitamins A and C
OK, these aren't exactly stealth nutrients, but it's nice to know vitamin C is found in more than just citrus fruits, and vitamin A isn't the exclusive domain of orange vegetables.

A tenth of a medium honeydew has 45 percent of your daily requirement for vitamin C; a quarter of a medium cantaloupe has 100 percent for vitamin A and 80 percent for vitamin C (percentages based on a 2,000-calorie diet). Watermelon has less, but still respectable amounts of both--roughly 25 percent of your daily need.

More Nutrients
"We also need to keep in mind things like thiamine, potassium, B-6 and fiber," says Melanie Polk, R.D., director of nutrition education for the American Institute for Cancer Research. "We want to emphasize the great taste of melons, [but also that they have] all these nutrients [and] the fact that they all have lots of water, which makes them so very refreshing as well as naturally low in calories."

Here are ideas for moving beyond melons au naturel:

Toss diced melon with chopped cilantro, thinly sliced scallions, minced jalapeno and lime juice for a fruity salsa to spoon over grilled chicken or fish.
Make melons the heart of great smoothies and slushies. Try cantaloupe, vanilla yogurt and ginger; honeydew and kiwi; or frozen watermelon chunks, cracked ice, and grenadine syrup.
Polk likes to whirl cut-up cantaloupe (or any other orange-fleshed melon) in a blender with orange juice for a refreshing cold summer soup. Garnish with raspberries or strawberries and a sprig of mint.
Fruit salad is a no-brainer, but be the first on your block to serve frozen fruit salad. Freeze chunks of watermelon, whole red grapes, sliced kiwis and bananas overnight. Slice the bananas and combine them with the other fruit. Serve during the next heat wave.

Geneva Collins, a food and health writer, has written extensively about nutrition topics for many consumer publications, including Nutrition Action Healthletter, The Female Patient and Atlantic Lifestyles, and has created healthy eating fact sheets for the National Institutes of Health.