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Cassabanana Melons grow on a perennial vine up to 50 feet (15 metres) long that can be started from seeds or cuttings. Some people grow the vine as an ornamental. It will climb trees or it can be trained on trellises, and it can adhere to smooth surfaces.

The vine has leaves up to 1 foot (30 cm) wide, and male and female flowers.

The fruit is 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 cm) long. The thick, hard rind can be orange, yellow, purple, or black. It will be smooth and glossy when ripe.

Inside, the tender, sweet flesh is orange or yellow. At the centre, there is a soft pulp with oval, flat brown seeds about 1/2 inch (1 cm) long and half as wide. The seeds grow in rows the length of the melon.

The fruit has a sweet aroma. It is very fragrant in the house. Some people think it repels moths.

Cooking Tips
Cassabanana Melon can be eaten raw in slices. Some say it is better with a little sugar.

It can also be cooked and made into preserves such as jam.

When unripe, it is treated as a vegetable.

The most popular use is jam.

Nutrition
Per 100g, peeled and seeded: 13.9 mg Vitamin C, .02 fat, .145g protein, 21.1 mg calcium, 24.5 mg phosphorus, .33mg iron.

History
Cassabanana Melon is native to Brazil but was already being grown before the Europeans arrived in places such as what is now Ecuador .

Also called:

Other entries for:

Melons
Babáco Melons, Banana Melons, Blue Ridge Melons, Bolero Melons, Butterscotch Melons, Cassabanana Melons, Collective Farm Woman Melons, Emerald Gem Melons, Emerald Jewel Melons, Emerald Pearl Melons, Honeyball Melons, Horned Melons, Kharbuza Melons, Pineapple Melons, Sharlyn Melons, Sprite Melons, Summer Melons, Winter Melons, Yellow Melons, Yubari Melons

Other entries for:

Hard Fruit
Apples, Apricots, Avocado, Chayote, Citrus Fruit, Guava Fruit, Kiwis, Mangos, Maypop Fruit, Medlars, Nectarines, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Peaches, Pears, Persimmons, Plums, Pomegranates, Quinces, Red Sorrel, Rose Hips, Sapote, Star Fruit, True Service Fruit

Other entries for:

Fruit
Bananas, Bletting, Candied Fruit, Dried Fruit, Drupes, Olives, Rhubarb, Soft Fruit