How to choose a melon?

Before you choose a melon you need to decide onthe place where you will choose it. It's best if it's an official market or a supermarket. Who knows where the melons that were sold on unauthorized camping sites were brought from, and how they were grown? Special It is dangerous to buy melons sold along the roads: melons absorb very strongly heavy metals and other toxic substances. The melons sold should be on a pallet under a canopy or awning, and not directly on the ground.

Deciding to buy a melon from a particular seller, do not hesitate to ask him for permission to trade, issued by the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, and laboratory test results. If the seller's conscience is clear, he is without problemswill provide these documents. If, on the other hand, he begins to deny and instead tell him what wonderful melons he has, it's better to pick a melon somewhere else.

The melon is not as dense as the skin of watermelon, so the melon you choose should be whole, without stains, dents and cracks. Disease-causing bacteria very quicklyspread on the surface of damaged fruit and just as quickly penetrate through the damaged thin skin. Agree, salmonellosis or botulism - too much payment for the opportunity to eat melon.

Yet never buy cut melons (even in a supermarket wrapped in foodfilm) and do not allow the seller to cut them with you so that you can evaluate their ripeness. You can never vouch for the purity of the knife and hands of the seller. In addition, because of the high sugar content, the cut melon pulp becomes an almost ideal breeding ground for bacteria.

To choose a melon, which probably will be ripe, first sniff. In ripe melons characteristic pleasant aroma with notes of vanilla, pear, honey and even pineapple. If the melon smells of greens or does not smell at all, do not buy it - it is probably not ripe. By the way, the warmer on the street (or in the room where the melon is sold), the more intense the flavor will be.

You can try to choose a melon "to the touch," but the tactile sensations will depend on what you eat, what kind of melon do you choose?. The melon of the variety "Kolhoznitsa" must have a surfacebe evenly smooth, and "Torpedo", on the contrary, rough, with clear furrows on the entire surface. Another "Collective Farm Girl" should be rich yellow and round, and "Torpedo" - elongated, it is usually larger than the "Collective Farm".

There are several other ways to choose a melon for proper ripeness. Try it now slap. If the melon is ripe, the sound will not be ringing, butdeaf. Still it is possible to define ripeness of a melon on its "spout" (a trace from a flower) and "a tail" (a trace from a stalk). "Spout" should be slightly soft. An overripe melon has a very soft "nose", while an immature one has a hard nose. The "tail" of a good melon must be dry and thick. You can also gently scrape the crust of melon. If the melon is ripe, you can easily "scrape" to the green peel.

If you want to choose a melon of good quality, it is better to buy it in season, in the second half of August - September. In principle, Central Asian melons canto appear on sale before, but at the end of summer and beginning of autumn, there is a much greater chance of choosing a really good melon. Melons of late maturation are more useful, since they are not grown under film coatings, in addition, when they are grown they use less mineral fertilizers and pesticides.

Choosing a melon is a little more difficult than choosing a watermelon, but a little practice - and choosing a delicious ripe melon will not be the least effort for you. And by what criteria do you usually choose melon? Share your experience with other readers!