Product Description

Kalahari melon is the biological ancestor of the watermelon. Unlike the common sweet watermelon, the Kalahari melon’s flesh is pale yellow or green, and tastes bitter. A creeping annual herb, the Kalahari melon has hairy stems, forked tendrils, three-lobed hairy leaves, and bright yellow flowers. Although found all over Southern Africa, it is most closely associated with the Kalahari sands of Namibia, Botswana, south-western Zambia, and western Zimbabwe.

The fruits vary significantly, from small and round in the wild, to larger and more oblong-shaped under cultivation. The surface is smooth, pale green with irregular bands of mottled darker green radiating from the stalk. The flesh is a pale green or yellow, and contains numerous brown seeds. In its wild form, the fruit is bitter to bland in taste, and largely inedible when fresh.

The Kalahari melon is the biological ancestor of the common watermelon found worldwide. It is a creeping annual herb with hairy stems and bright yellow flowers. Unlike the common watermelon, whose flesh is sweet and red, the Kalahari melon’s juicy flesh is pale yellow or green, and tastes bitter. Kalahari melon fruits are small and round in the wild, but larger and oval when cultivated. They have smooth pale green skin marked with mottled bands of darker green radiating from the stalk. The Kalahari melon is highly adapted to surviving drought and the harsh light of the desert environment.

Traditionally, Kalahari melon seed oil has been used in Southern Africa as a moisturizer to protect the skin from the sun. The rich yellow oil from the seeds is sold to a number of cosmetic companies that formulate products that moisturize, regenerate, and restructure the skin, promote hair growth, and as an ingredient in soap. The oil contributes to the integrity of the epidermal cell wall, helps regulate epidermal hydration, and restructuring of the epidermis.

Kalahari melon seed oil is cholesterol free and rich in essential fatty acids that are not synthesized by the body, including oleic acid, palmitic acid, and a high concentration of linoleic acid (*0% to *0%). It also has high antioxidant activity.

Specific Gravity: 0.**5

Fatty acid profile:

 *7% Monosaturated fatty acids
 *9% Saturated fatty acids
 *4% Polyunsaturated fatty acids

Parameter and Range:

*4:0 myristic   Max 0.1 %
*6:0 palmitic   6.***3.0%
*6:1 palmitoleic   Max 0.1%
*7:0 heptadecanoic   Max 0.1%
*8:0 stearic   5.***1.0%
*8:1 oleic   *0.***4.0%
*8:2 linoleic   *5.***0.0%
*8:3 _-linolenic   Max 0.2%
*0:0 icosanoic   Max 0.4%
*0:1 icosenoic   Max 0.1%
*0:3 icosatrienoic   Max 0.1%
*0:4 icosatetraenoic   0.**0.7%
*2:0 docosanoic   Max 0.1%
*2:1 docosenoic   0.**1.2%
*4:0 tetracosanoic   Max 0.4%
*4:1 tetracosenoic   Max 0.3%
unknown   0.*- 4.3%
minor components   Max 0.1%
Iodine value   **2.****9.4
Saponification value   **1.****2
Unsaponifiable matter   **1.0%