Muskmelon

Fruits mature in 35 to 55 days from full bloom, depending on cultivar and environment. Commercially, muskmelons are generally picked at the 'half slip' stage. At half slip, part of the pedicel remains attached to the fruit, i.e. the abscission layer is not fully developed. Sugars and flavors are not optimal at half slip and will increase on the vine up to the time of full slip. Full slip is the stage at which the stem separates cleanly from the fruit with little or no pulling. At this stage however, the fruit of most cultivars has a very short shelf life and melons will be overripe by the time they reach the consumer. The cultivar Mainstream' was developed to be unripe at full slip and allowed to ripen in storage. A melon picked at half-slip can be left at room temperature for several days to soften and improve in aroma and flavor. However, muskmelons will not produce any additional sugars off the vine since there are no starch reserves to break down. Ripeness is difficult to judge once the melon has been picked. Look for a well-developed, raised netting, a smoothly rounded stem scar, and a characteristic aroma.

Harvest is almost entirely by hand, although harvest aids which pick up melon boxes from the field are sometimes used. Hand harvesting is necessary because ripe and unripe fruit cannot be distinguished mechanically and because muskmelon fields are usually harvested more than once and most mechanical harvesters destroy the vines. Equipment is currently being developed that would nondestructively and rapidly measure fruit soluble solids. Once perfected, this could presumably be incorporated into mechanical harvesters, used by pickers to distinguish ripe and unripe fruit more effectively in the field, or used on the grading line at packhouses to better predict melon shelflife.

Muskmelon fruit damage easily with careless handling and suffer when field heat is not removed promptly after harvest. Precooling is necessary immediately after harvest to slow down respiration. If this is not done, sugars will be burned up, decreasing quality and reducing shelf life. In Florida and California, night harvesting is sometimes used to reduce the field heat of the melons. Even under the best conditions (36 to 40 degrees F and 95 percent relative humidity), muskmelons only keep 12 to 16 days.

Winter melons. Ripeness in winter melons is difficult to determine at harvest because they do not 'slip' from the vine when ripe. Changes in the fruit are subtle. As they ripen, honeydews change from green to yellowish white and the blossom scar softens slightly. Commercially, they are picked before full ripeness. At this time, the ground color is white with a greenish cast. The blossom end is still hard to firm, and there is no aroma or evidence of a waxy coat on the surface. These melons require ethylene for ripening, which is usually administered in transit from production areas to distribution centers.