Cantaloupe Seed

Cantaloupe seeds are the many flat, oval, creamy-white seeds nestled in the fibrous centre of ripe melons of Cucumis melo, a trailing annual vine that produces fruits with sweet orange, green or white flesh. Each seed is about eight to ten millimetres long, tapered at one end, with a thin hull around a soft, mild kernel.

The seeds taste faintly nutty and slightly sweet. They are rinsed to remove the slippery pulp, dried and then roasted, or hulled to give kernels. In Indian cooking, shelled melon seed kernels are sold as magaz, often together with watermelon, pumpkin and cucumber kernels in a mix called char magaz.

Cucumis melo is native to warm regions of the Old World, with Africa, southwest and central Asia and India all proposed as the area of origin, and genetic research suggests that domestication may have occurred more than once. Melons have been grown for thousands of years in the ancient Near East, Egypt and Asia.

The word cantaloupe comes from Cantalupo, a papal estate near Rome where melons were grown after being introduced from Armenia, according to the standard account. The word melon traces back to the Greek melopepon, meaning apple-gourd, and the Greek and Latin names for the species stress its sweetness.

Melons were popular in ancient Egypt, Persia and the Roman world, and the seeds were eaten and used in medicine from early times. Arab agriculturalists spread improved melons across the Mediterranean, and by the Renaissance melons were a luxury of European courts.

In South Asian and Persian cuisine, the kernels of melon seeds were prized in Mughal cooking, where ground melon seeds thicken and enrich korma, kofta and other sauces and are used in sweets and cooling drinks such as thandai. In Unani medicine the seeds belong to the group called the four cold seeds, used in summer drinks.

In China and Southeast Asia, roasted melon seeds, especially those of watermelon, are a social snack at festivals such as the Lunar New Year. Modern interest in using seeds that would otherwise be discarded has revived home roasting of cantaloupe seeds as a snack in North America. Safety concerns have arisen from foodborne outbreaks linked to cantaloupe, most notably Listeria in 2011.

Wash and dry the seeds, toss with oil and salt, and roast until golden for a crunchy snack, or add them to granola, salads and baked goods. Hulled kernels are ground and used to thicken and enrich curries, korma and desserts, and are added to drinks such as thandai. Seeds can also be sprouted or pressed for a mild oil.

In traditional medicine, melon seeds have been used as a cooling food. Seeds from heirloom varieties can be saved for planting, but should not be confused with edible seeds that have been treated with chemicals.

Like other cucurbit seeds, melon seeds supply fat, mostly unsaturated, as well as protein, magnesium, zinc and iron, with the specific amounts depending on whether they are hulled. They are eaten as a small portion of a varied diet.

Data on cantaloupe seed nutrition is limited compared with pumpkin seeds. Traditional uses for urinary and cooling effects have little modern clinical evidence. Roasted seeds make a pleasant crunchy snack, but because they are energy dense and may be heavily salted, moderate portions are sensible.