Maybe It’s The Melon Millennium After All

Just think of the ways melons enrich our life experiences.

Cantaloupe. Now that’s a great start to a hearty breakfast! What would a 4^th of July picnic be without watermelon? "Honey, don’t forget the Honeydew." And what about the casaba and galia melons stacked in grocer’s bins almost anywhere?

For the record, melons are a vegetable, not a fruit. They are rich in vitamin C, potassium, calcium, and phosphorous. Available year ‘round thanks to modern transportation and refrigeration technologies, they are beautiful served alongside beef, chicken, vegetables, grains, dark leafy vegetables, and dairy foods.

Still consuming alcohol in the Age of Abstinence? Try blending the flesh of a honeydew melon together with ¾ cup of white tequila, 1/3 cup fresh lime juice, and 2 tablespoons sugar. You’ll be wasting away in Margaritaville!

Feeling abstemious yet in the mood for a little fun? Split any of the melons mentioned above and trying spitting one of the 66 feet 11 inches. If you can, you’ll tie the record held by Jack Dietz of Chicago.

And here’s something else to consider. Even if we (Homo sapiens) weren’t around to enjoy the world’s many melons, take comfort in the fact that for millennia they’ve been host to untold generations of beetles, moths, crickets, grasshoppers, and many other important insect species.

The Wonder of Melons set some scientists to wondering how they might fare with a greater concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air. Mavrogianopoulos, et al. recently grew a type of honeydew (Parnon melons) in greenhouses where atmospheric CO2 levels were simulated for five hours each day. For some, the concentration was 400 ppm. For others, 800 or 1200 ppm. The plants were well-irrigated throughout the experiment using water of varying salinity.

In comparison with plants exposed to 400 ppm CO2, those at 800 ppm showed an increase in their net photosynthetic rate of seventy-five percent while the plants with the five hours of 1200 ppm CO2 showed an increase in net photosynthesis of 120 percent.

The same relative response was observed at various pre-set levels of irrigation water salinity. The higher the level of CO2, the greater the decrease in negative effects from higher salinity on shoot growth, leaf growth, and leaf chlorophyll content.

And not to worry about the Big Ticket item: melon yield. It increased significantly at all water salinity levels with the effect particularly pronounced at lower salinity levels.

Reference:

Mavrogianopoulos, G.N., Spanakis, J., and Tsikalas, P. 1999. Effect of carbon dioxide enrichment and salinity on photosynthesis and yield in melon. Scientia Horticulturae, 79, 51-63.