Amy Simonne, Eric Simonne, Robert Boozer, and Jim Pitts

Approximately 3,000 acres of small melons are grown in Alabama and currently there are more than 150 varieties of small melons available for commercial or home garden production. Picking the best melon for commercial production from all these choices can be a challenge for growers, but a recent AAES consumer preference study may help narrow the choices by identifying the most popular varieties among melon lovers.

Small melon is a generic term that refers to the fruits of Cucumis melo L. plants, and includes muskmelon (often incorrectly referred to as cantaloupe), honey dew, and galia. Small melons display a wide range of sizes, shapes, and flesh characteristics. Honey dew melons have green flesh, whereas, cantaloupes have orange flesh. Cantaloupes are divided into eastern and western types. The eastern type is characterized by round-shaped fruits of five to seven pounds, sutured (sutures are the green lines that divide the rind into several sections), variable level of netting (netting is the network of cork-like marks that cover the rind), and a large seed cavity. The western type is characterized by oval-shaped fruits of three to four pounds, suturless, and a coarsely netted rind (see figure above). The rind of honey dew is smooth, suturless, without netting, green at the immature stage, and creamy-white at the mature stage.

The most widely grown small melon varieties are Athena (eastern type) and Hi-Mark (western type) because of their yield potential and shipping quality. Honey dew melons, such as Earli-Dew, also have a good horticultural potential, but their acreage is presently limited. Because small melons are usually consumed as fresh fruits, their main quality attributes are sweetness, crunchiness, and flavor. Growers might expand their profit by choosing a small melon variety that is preferred by Alabama consumers, although little consumer preference information about small melons has been available to growers. An AAES consumer preference study was conducted to provide more information on those preferences and to assess consumer knowledge of small melon varieties, determine consumers' preferences for different types, and identify preferred varieties for Alabama.

In the spring of 1997, small melons were grown at the Chilton Area Horticulture Substation (CAHS) in Clanton. Current recommendations for small melon production were followed and fruits of selected small melon varieties (Table 1) were harvested at maturity. At a 1997 CAHS field day, volunteers (primarily growers, home owners, and gardeners) participated in a small melon taste-test. Panelists were served small melon samples that were coded by random three-digit numbers to disguise variety names. On a questionnaire, panelists were asked to list all the varieties of cantaloupe or other small melons that they knew. Then, they were asked to rate the samples based on crunchiness, sweetness, intensity of musky flavor, and overall preference.

Table 1. Characteristics of Small Melon Varieties

Variety	Type	Flesh color	Seed supplier
Earli-Dew (F11)	Honey dew	Green	Stokes Seeds
Passport (F1)	Specialty2	Green	Stokes Seeds
Hi-Mark (F1)	Cantaloupe (western)	Orange	Petoseed
Laredo (F1)	Cantaloupe (western)	Orange	Petoseed
ML-4824 (F1)	Cantaloupe (western)	Orange	Sandoz Rogers
Superstar (F1)	Cantaloupe (eastern)	Orange	Harris Seeds
Athena (F1)	Cantaloupe (eastern)	Orange	Sandoz Rogers
1 F1 = hybrid 2 Honey dew x Galia

Results showed that panelists knew very little about varieties and types of small melons. Most of them (83%) did not answer the variety question. Several answers were incorrect. Correct answers included Hale's best (six times), Athena (three times), Hi-Mark (two times), Passport (once), Hale's Jumbo (once), and Aurora (once).

Significant differences among varieties for all four selected attributes were found (Table 2). The crunchiest varieties were ML-4824 and Earli-Dew. Hi-Mark and Laredo were rated as the most flavorful, while Laredo and Hi-Mark were the sweetest. Highest overall preference was for Laredo, Earli-Dew, and Hi-Mark.

Table 2. Sensory Scores¹ of Selected Small Melon Varieties

Variety	Crunchiness	Flavor	Sweetness	OP2	ORSI3
Laredo	56	49	57	54	8
Earli-Dew	59	44	50	54	10
Hi-Mark	44	50	55	53	10
ML-4824	66	33	32	44	16
Passport	11	43	45	45	18
Superstar	35	35	28	39	23
Athena	39	27	29	34	24
1Panelists were asked to rate the samples using a 90 millimeter (mm) unstructured line scale. The length between the left origin of the line and the mark made by the panelist was the score used for statistical analysis. Shorter lengths (less than 45 mm) represented less desirable scores; longer lengths (greater than 45 mm) represented more desirable scores. 2 OP = Overall Preference 3ORSI= Overall Rank Sum Index

To compare varieties several different attributes were combined and an Overall Rank Sum Index (ORSI) was calculated for each variety by adding rankings for each attribute. Lowest (best) and highest (worst) possible ORSI values were four and 28, respectively, while an ORSI of 14 would be an average. ORSI was eight for Laredo, 10 for Earli-Dew and Hi-Mark, 16 for ML-4824, 18 for Passport, 23 for Superstar, and 24 for Athena. These results indicate that panelists preferred western type cantaloupes over the eastern type. The Earli-Dew variety was also well accepted.

Although consumers have limited knowledge about varieties of small melons, they did have preferences for the eastern and honey-dew types and for varieties within types. Thus, consumer preference should be considered as an important factor in small melon breeding and commercial production. For commercial plantings, growers should consider that preferred varieties for Alabama consumers sampled in this study were Laredo, Earli-Dew, and Hi-Mark.