Hami melon

{{Short description|Melon cultivar}} {{Infobox cultivar | name = Hami melon | image = A hami melon for sale at a Publix market in Knoxville, Tennessee.jpg | genus = ''Cucumis'' | species = ''C. melo'' | group = Ameri Group, Inodorus Group, Chandalak Group }} {{Chinese | t = {{linktext|哈密瓜}} | p = Hāmì guā | bpmf = ㄏㄚㄇㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄚ | w = Ha1-mi4 kua1 }}

'''''Hami melon''''' is an umbrella term for sweet melon varieties from Xinjiang, China, especially from Hami. This fruit is also referred to as the '''Chinese Hami melon''' or the '''snow melon'''. The outer color is generally white through pink or yellow through green. The inside flesh is sweet and crisp.

== Cultivation == The origin of the Hami melon can be traced back to the Han dynasty in China. From 58 to 76 AD, Hami melons were given to Emperor Ming of Han by officials as a rare tribute from the Western Regions and called {{Transliteration|zh|kùhóng}} ({{zh|c=库洪}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Xu |first1=Xiaobin |title=Xi yu shen hua |last2=徐小斌. |date=2001 |publisher=Yunnan ren min chu ban she |isbn=7-222-03261-4 |edition=Di 1 ban |location=Kunming Shi |oclc=49274563}}</ref>

Xinjiang's unique geographical environment (high altitude, large temperature difference between day and night, and sufficient sunshine) has created different varieties of Hami melon, such as the Yellow Honey Hami Melon and the Red Honey Hami Melon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=哈密瓜--新疆美食--新疆地情网 |url=http://www.xjtonglan.com/lbxj/xjms/1733.shtml |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=www.xjtonglan.com}}</ref> More than 100 cultivated forms and hybrids of the 'Hami' melon have been grown in China.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lim, T. K. |year=2012 |title=Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants |url=https://archive.org/details/ediblemedicinaln00limt_997 |url-access=limited |chapter=''Cucumis melo'' L. (Reticulatus Group) ‘Hami melon’ |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=978-94-007-1763-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ediblemedicinaln00limt_997/page/n245 231]–234 |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-1764-0_36 }}</ref>

Xinjiang has different protected areas for the cultivation of Hami melon, among which Yiwu County, Hami, has an area the length of 150 kilometers. The storage method of Hami melon at low temperatures is also unique. Among them, Gold Queen Hami Melons can be stored at 3°C for 18 days and still maintain the original taste.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ning |first1=Ming |last2=Tang |first2=Fengxian |last3=Zhang |first3=Qin |last4=Zhao |first4=Xinxin |last5=Yang |first5=Liping |last6=Cai |first6=Wenchao |last7=Shan |first7=Chunhui |title=The quality of Gold Queen Hami melons stored under different temperatures |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304423818305491 |journal=Scientia Horticulturae |year=2019 |volume=243 |pages=140–147|doi=10.1016/j.scienta.2018.08.005 |bibcode=2019ScHor.243..140N |s2cid=91318912 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> ==Gallery== <gallery mode=nolines widths=200 heights=200> Image:1965-10 1965年新疆哈密瓜.jpg|Harvesting hami melon at Hami in 1965 File:乌鲁木齐西州哈密瓜.jpg|Hami melons at a market in Urumqi </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}} * {{cite book|last1=Anderson |first1=Eugene N. |title=The Food of China |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1990 |pages=80, 162, 209 |isbn=978-0300047394}} * {{cite web|title=Foodista: Hami Melon |url=http://www.foodista.com/food/7BTJHY4N/hami-melon# |accessdate=13 August 2013}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20051202165559/http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_22024.htm China Culture] * {{cite web |title=Melons: Cantaloupe, Muskmelon, Honeydew, Crenshaw, Casaba, etc. |url=http://horticulture.oregonstate.edu/content/melons-cantaloupe-muskmelon-honeydew-crenshaw-casaba-etc-0 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160304041741/http://horticulture.oregonstate.edu/content/melons-cantaloupe-muskmelon-honeydew-crenshaw-casaba-etc-0 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |accessdate=19 August 2013}} {{Melons}}

Category:Melons