THE HORNED MELON
The horned melon,also called African homed cucumber, is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family. It is considered to be the ancestor of the other cultivated melons. Often known by its nickname in the southeastern United States, blowfish fruit, it is grown for its fruit, which look like oval melons with horn like spines.
The fruit of this plant is edible, but it is used as often for decoration as for food. When ripe, it has a yellow-orange skin and a lime green, jelly-like fesh with a tart taste, and texture similar to a cucumber.
In Zimbabwe, this cucumber is called gaka, and it is primarily used as a fruit-snack, salad, and rarely for decoration. It is eaten young, mature green, or when ripe bright yellow/orange. It grows naturally in the fields and also in the bush . however, some people leave some to rot in the fields for the next summer’s seeds/plant.
As traditional food plant in Africa, this fruit is potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable land care. Along with the Gemsbok cucumber, it is the only source of water during the dry season in the Kalahari Desert. Despite the fruit’s colorful appearance, it is not found any significant uses in Western cuisine and been called “astringent”, and the price is “exorbitant”
1. The important things of this fruit besides as a plain fruit in Africa is that ....
A. it can grow anywhere D. it has plain taste
B. it increases health E. it can be eaten raw
C. it has unique colours
2. How do people in Zimbabwe get the next summer’s seeds of the horned melon?
A. they grow the fruit in the bush. D. they use the fruit for decoration.
B. they eat the fruit and leave the seeds. E. they improve the nutrition for the fruit.
C. they leave some fruits to rot in the field.
3 3. From the last paragraph we can conclude that western people ... the horned melon.
A. plant C. consume E. preserve
B. do not eat D. like eating
