Produce OASIS Tip of the Day

July 31 - Variety Melon Selection Tips:

Good-quality variety melons will be fairly large and firm with a small amount of softness at the stem end. The skin will have a slightly waxy feel when the melon is ripe. Avoid product that is too firm, too soft, has dark blemishes on the skin or is extremely green-colored.

The coloring of various ripe melons is as follows:

Casaba melons will be rich yellow with very little green on the skin.
Crenshaw melons will be rich yellow with green tinges on the skin.
Canary melons will be canary yellow with no green on the skin.
Honeydew melons will turn a creamy yellow color.
Orange-flesh Honeydew melons will turn a creamy yellow color with a slight orange tinge.
Pepino melon will be pale yellow with purple stripes.
Persian melons will be dark green and turn lighter green as the melon ripens.
Santa Claus melons will be mottled yellow and green.

Melons eaten soon after they're picke ripe from the vine are the sweetest and most flavorful. Good, ripe melons should feel heavy for their size. That's because ripe melons are 94% water. If you have a choice between two melons of identical size, select the heavier of the two. It's probably riper than than the other melon.

OASIS has much more information on melons.

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