The reason why it is called winter melon is because the white wax on the outer skin of the winter melon can protect the winter melon from going bad during the winter and play a storage role, so it is called winter melon.

Winter melon is an annual trailing or trellis herbaceous plant in the Cucurbitaceae family. The stems are covered with yellowish-brown bristles and villous hairs, with furrows. The petioles are thick, covered with coarse bristles and villous hairs. They are both male and female. Plant, flowers solitary, long cylindrical or nearly spherical fruit, large, with bristles and hoarfrost, seeds oval.

Winter melon is mainly distributed in other tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, and is cultivated in various parts of China. There are wild ones in southern Yunnan, China (Xishuangbanna), and the fruits are much smaller. It is also found in eastern Australia and Madagascar.

In addition to being used as vegetables, winter melon fruits can also be dipped into various candies.

Extended information

Winter melon nutritional value

Winter melon includes pulp, pulp and seeds, which are rich in nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and mineral elements. .

Research shows that the vitamins in winter melon are high in ascorbic acid, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. Vitamin B1, which has the effect of preventing and treating cancer, is quite abundant in winter melon seeds; mineral elements include potassium , sodium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, phosphorus, selenium, etc. 8 kinds, among which the potassium content is significantly higher than the sodium content, which is a typical high-potassium and low-sodium vegetable. The element selenium also has many functions such as anti-cancer. .

Contains 8 kinds of essential amino acids except tryptophan, with high content of glutamic acid and aspartic acid. It also contains ornithine, Y-aminobutyric acid and histidine that are specially needed by children. ; Winter melon contains no fat and has dietary fiber as high as 0.8%. It is rich in nutrients and has a reasonable structure. It is a high-quality food that is beneficial to health.

People's Daily Online - Winter melon is actually a summer melon

People's Daily Online - Winter melon