Ripened African Horned Melons
Here is a fully ripe African Horned Melon or Kiwano (‘Cucumis metuliferus’). I was anxious to sample the melon, but a little nervous as well, as I’ve read other accounts of people less than happy about the taste.
Here are some pictures of the fruit sliced diagonally and vertically. Although an odd looking fruit, I think it looks especially pretty sliced at the equator.
Once scooped out with a spoon, kiwano fruit consists of many gelatinous seed covered capsules, as well as a little juice. The fruit is rather seedy, but seeds are edible and not difficult to chew.
I thought the taste of this fruit is a mix of lime, cucumber, and kiwi. A teaspoon or so of sugar added to the fruit greatly improves the taste. The taste was much better than I was lead to believe. It was vastly superior to the Cape Gooseberry I grew this year, in my opinion.
The fruit can be eaten green as well, without a major difference in taste. I was glad, as not as many kiwanos ripened fully as I had hoped. Some ripened halfway for an interesting green/orange spotted fruit. I think this was largely because of an unseasonably cool summer in our area. I had lots of fruit fairly early, but not enough really hot days to bring all of them to full maturity. The only difference I discerned in the taste of the ripened orange melon was an additional hint of banana flavor and touch of added sweetness. Adding a bit of sugar to green or ripened fruit improves it quite a bit. There is a hint of tartness, but not as much as I expected. The seedy texture could be off-putting to some, but isn’t a large concern to me.
The fruit generates a lot of interest from friends and family who visit our home. I’ve been told by one person that they “always see something weird they’ve never seen before” each time they come. I’ll take that as a complement! 