16 Types of Melon With Pictures and Uses

True melons and other melons

All melons belong to the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, along with cucumbers, squashes and pumpkins. Botanically a melon is a kind of berry called a pepo [2]. In everyday use the word covers several different plants:

• True melons are all one species, Cucumis melo. Almost every sweet melon in the shops belongs to it: cantaloupes and other muskmelons, honeydew, galia, Charentais, canary, casaba, crenshaw, Santa Claus, hami and many more [2].
• Watermelon is a separate species, Citrullus lanatus, from a different branch of the family [3].
• Other “melons” are related plants with melon in their name: winter melon (Benincasa hispida), horned melon (Cucumis metuliferus), gac (Momordica cochinchinensis) and bitter melon (Momordica charantia) [7][8][9][10]. Several of these are cooked as vegetables rather than eaten as fruit.

Within true melons, growers group varieties by rind and flavour. Cantalupensis types have rough or ribbed skin that is not netted, reticulatus types are the netted muskmelons, and the inodorus group includes casaba, honeydew, canary and many Asian melons [2].

Sweet melons to eat raw

These are the melons most people mean by the word. As the Only Foods chart above shows, they are mostly eaten fresh, in fruit salads, smoothies and desserts, with a few used in cold soups, sorbets or cocktails [1].

Cantaloupe and other muskmelons

The orange-fleshed melon with a netted rind sold as cantaloupe in North America is a muskmelon, called rockmelon in Australia and New Zealand [4]. The true European cantaloupe has a ribbed, lightly netted rind; the French Charentais is the best known variety, a small ribbed melon with orange flesh that is usually eaten as it is [1][2]. Cantaloupes weigh from 0.5 to 5 kg [4] and go into fruit salads and ice cream [1].

Galia is a hybrid with a netted rind that turns yellow when ripe and faint green flesh. It was bred in Israel by Zvi Karchi at the Neve Yaar research centre, released in 1973 and named after his daughter; a typical fruit weighs about 1 kg [5]. Hami melons come from Hami in Xinjiang, China, and have sweet, crisp flesh [2]. Both are mainly eaten fresh or in fruit salads, desserts and drinks [1].

Honeydew and winter (inodorus) melons

Honeydew has sweet, juicy green flesh and works in fruit salads, smoothies and cold soups [1][2]. In Lanzhou, China, honeydew is grown as the bailan melon [2]. Canary melons are large and bright yellow with pale green to white flesh [2]. Casaba is also bright yellow, with a smooth, furrowed skin; it has less flavour than other melons but keeps longer [2]. Crenshaw is a cross between a casaba and a Persian melon and is known for being very sweet [2]. The Santa Claus melon, also known by its Spanish name piel de sapo (“toad skin”), has a blotchy green rind and sweet white flesh, and is used in sorbets, tarts and sauces as well as eaten fresh [1][2].

Watermelon

Watermelon is the most familiar non-true melon: a large berry with a firm rind and sweet red to pink flesh [3]. It is usually eaten raw, but it can also be grilled or baked [1]. It was first domesticated in Sudan and was grown in Egypt by 2000 BCE [3].

Melons for cooking

Several melons are vegetables in the kitchen, used in curries, stir-fries and soups across Asia [1].

• Winter melon, also called wax gourd or ash gourd, is native to South and Southeast Asia and grown for its very large fruit, which is eaten as a vegetable when mature [7]. The immature fruit is used to make a fruit drink [2].
• Bitter melon (bitter gourd, karela) is a tropical vine grown in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Its varieties vary a lot in shape and bitterness, and it is widely used in East, South and Southeast Asian cooking, mainly in curries and stir-fries [1][10].
• Snap melon is a true melon of the Momordica group, native to India, where it is called “phut”, meaning to split. Unripe fruit is cooked, often in curries, and ripe fruit is eaten raw [1][11].
• Gac grows in Southeast Asia and Queensland, Australia. Its vivid orange-red colour comes from beta-carotene and lycopene, and it is cooked with rice and in curries [1][9].

Unusual melons

The horned melon or kiwano is native to southern Africa and is now grown in California, Chile, Australia and New Zealand [2][8]. Its orange skin is covered in spikes and its flesh is lime green and jelly-like, which suits fruit salads, smoothies and salsas [1][8]. At the other end of the scale, the Japanese Yubari King is a highly prized cantaloupe variety [2].

Which type of melon is the sweetest?

Sweetness varies with variety and ripeness, so there is no single answer. On average figures from the US Department of Agriculture, honeydew has the most sugar of the common melons at about 8.1 g per 100 g, followed by cantaloupe at 7.9 g, watermelon at 6.2 g and casaba at 5.7 g [6]. Among less common varieties, crenshaw is described as very sweet, and Galia melons are defined in the trade as sweet and aromatic with a very high soluble solids content [2][5].

Which melon is the healthiest?

Melons are mostly water (about 90%) and low in calories, at roughly 28 to 36 kcal per 100 g [6]. The differences are in vitamins and pigments. Cantaloupe is the standout for vitamin C (36.7 mg per 100 g) and beta-carotene, which the body turns into vitamin A. Honeydew has about half as much vitamin C, and watermelon is rich in lycopene, the pigment behind its red flesh [6]. Casaba and honeydew have almost no beta-carotene [6].

Per 100 g, raw	Calories	Sugars	Vitamin C	Beta-carotene	Lycopene
Cantaloupe	34 kcal	7.9 g	36.7 mg	2,020 µg	0
Honeydew	36 kcal	8.1 g	18.0 mg	30 µg	0
Watermelon	30 kcal	6.2 g	8.1 mg	303 µg	4,530 µg
Casaba	28 kcal	5.7 g	21.8 mg	0	0

Where melons come from

Melons were long thought to have originated in Africa, but recent studies point to Southwest Asia, especially Iran and India [2]. They were among the earliest plants domesticated in the Old World: seeds dated to 1350 to 1120 BCE found in Sardinia show they reached Europe in the Bronze Age, and European settlers were growing honeydew and casaba melons in the Americas by the 1600s [2]. Watermelon has its own African history, with cultivation going back over 4,000 years [2][3].

Today China dominates production. In 2018 the world grew 27 million tonnes of melons, 46% of them in China, with Turkey, Iran and India each producing more than a million tonnes [2].

Questions about types of melon

How many types of melons are there?

There is no fixed number. True melons alone include many cultivated varieties of one species, Cucumis melo, and other species such as watermelon, winter melon and horned melon add more [2]. Lists of 16, 21 or 40 types simply pick the best-known ones.

What is a Galia melon?

A hybrid true melon bred in Israel and released in 1973. It has a netted rind that turns yellow when ripe, pale green aromatic flesh and usually weighs about 1 kg [5].

What is a muskmelon?

A muskmelon is a true melon with a netted (reticulated) rind. The orange-fleshed fruit sold as cantaloupe in North America is a muskmelon [2][4].

Is bitter melon a melon?

Not a true melon. It is Momordica charantia, a relative in the same gourd family, and is cooked as a vegetable rather than eaten as a sweet fruit [10].

What are the best melons to eat raw?

Sweet true melons such as cantaloupe, Charentais, galia, honeydew, hami, canary and crenshaw, plus watermelon [1][2]. Winter melon, bitter melon, gac and unripe snap melon are better cooked [1].

Sources

1. Only Foods, 16 Different Types of Melon and What You Can do With Them, the original article for this chart.
2. Wikipedia, Melon.
3. Wikipedia, Watermelon.
4. Wikipedia, Cantaloupe.
5. Wikipedia, Galia melon.
6. US Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central (SR Legacy): cantaloupe, raw, honeydew, raw, watermelon, raw and casaba, raw.
7. Wikipedia, Wax gourd (winter melon).
8. Wikipedia, Kiwano (horned melon).
9. Wikipedia, Gac.
10. Wikipedia, Momordica charantia (bitter melon).
11. ResearchGate, Snapmelon (Cucumis melo L. Momordica group), an indigenous cucurbit from India with immense value for melon breeding.

Last reviewed 2 November 2026