Unlike a banana, there’s more than one name for a Kiwano. Which means every now and then there’s a little confusion. “Kiwano? I’ve heard of a horned melon. Is it like a horned melon?”
Meet the Kiwano. Aka horned melon, spiked melon, African horned melon, jelly melon, melano, Cucumis metuliferus…you get the picture.
Horny? Tick. Melon-y? Well, not quite.
A short history lesson
Once upon a time the name “Kiwano” was a registered trademark. New Zealanders John & Sharyn Morris first trademarked Kiwano back in the early 80s. Up until then it was most commonly known as a horned melon (and is sometimes still referred to as this, particularly in the USA). But when you slice open a spiky Kiwano you’ll see why it doesn’t quite match up to consumer’s expectations of what a melon would be!
It’s what’s inside a Kiwano that counts
Although a Kiwano has the oval rounded shape of a melon, when you cut it open the similarities end. Inside is a vibrant green pulp. This is made up of very slim white seeds which are encased in small jelly-like globules. Unlike a watermelon, you hardly notice you’re eating the seeds! The Kiwano pulp has a lovely cool texture, rather like a jelly (but with more liquid).
What melons and Kiwano do share is that they are both healthy, hydrating and filling snacks. Similar in kJ content, Kiwano beats the watermelon for natural sugar content, with only 3.8gm of sugar per 100gm fruit compared to the watermelon’s 12.2gm. Because they have high water content they are both great for summer eating and juicing (plus make a particularly good mocktail – try this little beauty). Kiwano is also a source of magnesium, potassium and dietary fibre. Our blog explains why these 3 are so important for maintaining physical and mental health.
Kiwano vs Horned Melon: The stats
These days Kiwano is deemed a generic term for the fruit and is no longer a registered trademark. If you do a search on Instagram you’ll come up with around 23,000 posts with the hashtag #Kiwano and 5,000+ posts with the hashtag #hornedmelon. #kiwanomelon brings up the rear with 3,800 posts. We make sure all Kiwano lovers see our delicious Instagram posts by including all 3 hashtags.
One thing’s for certain. We love that you’re interested in our favourite fruit, so we don’t mind what you call it! Some may prefer “horned melon”. Scientists may prefer Cucumis metuliferus. We’ll stick with our Kiwano. We do miss all the great “horny” horned melon puns though…
