Snake Melon (Cucumis melovar.flexuosus)

Snake melons (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus L. Naudin) are heirloom monoecious cucurbits that are mostly cultivated and distributed in the old world tropics and subtropics. Immature fruit are typically eaten raw or pickled, particularly in Mediterranean countries, where they have been prized for their crisp texture, refreshing qualities and non-sweet flavour since antiquity. These details were emphasized primarily by their depiction in wall paintings, statues and mosaics from Egyptian civilization and the Roman Empire, as well as other sources in ancient and medieval Islamic and Jewish texts.There is a general trend in investing capital to increase the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in order to avoid significant chronic and age-related diseases, given the growing interest among growers and consumers in high quality, healthy foods/food items and the mortality due to low fruit and vegetable consumption. As a result, the levels of various bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in fruit and vegetables are becoming an essential quality trait to analyse and quantify in terms of the nutritional quality of food so as to encourage the inclusion of certain still underutilized sources of bioactive compounds in the daily diet. This chapter concisely summarizes the important and valuable information about snake melon agronomic characteristics, functional consistency and therapeutic importance in a succinct manner. We’ve discussed how important snake melon is not only as a source of phytochemicals, but also for its healthy mineral composition, implying that this crop will become more important in the near future.