Cucumis metuliferus

This fruit has spikes like horns. It grows on a vine. The skin is bright orange. Inside, the soft part is green. This fruit comes from Africa. It can help people find water. It grows in a dry desert. People eat it as a snack. Some say it tastes like a banana. It can also taste like a lime. It is a very cool fruit to see!

The kiwano is a special fruit. It grows on a vine. People call it the horned melon. This is because it has spines like horns. This plant comes from Southern Africa. It grows in places like Namibia and Zimbabwe. In the dry Kalahari Desert, it helps people find water. The fruit has orange skin. The inside is soft and lime-green. Some say it tastes like banana and lime. Other people say it tastes like cucumber. You can eat the fruit at any stage. Some people even eat the peel. The peel has vitamin C and fiber. The fruit changes as it grows. The skin turns from green to orange. The sugar inside also goes up. Scientists study how the fruit grows. They look at the weight and the acid. The fruit can also help other melons grow. This is done through grafting. Grafting is a way to join two plants together. This helps the melon stay healthy in the soil.

The kiwano is a very unique fruit. It belongs to the cucumber and melon family. Many people call it the African horned cucumber. Some people also call it the spiked melon or jelly melon. It gets its name from the small spines on its skin. These spines look just like tiny horns. This plant is an annual vine. That means it grows for one season. It is a very important plant in many places.

This plant grows in many parts of Southern Africa. You can find it in South Africa and Namibia. It also grows in Botswana, Zambia, and Malawi. It grows in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Angola too. In the dry Kalahari Desert, it is very special. It is one of the few ways to find water. It helps people stay hydrated during the dry season.

Growing the fruit involves many small changes. The skin starts out green. It turns whitish green and then yellow. Finally, the skin becomes bright orange. Inside, the fruit has lime-green flesh. The sugar levels in the fruit go up as it grows. The acid levels also change during this time. The weight of the fruit stays the same for 28 days.

People have many ways to use this fruit. In northern Zimbabwe, people call it gaka or gakachika. They often eat it as a snack or a salad. You can eat the fruit at any stage of ripening. Some people even eat the peel. The peel is full of vitamin C and fiber. You can add sugar or salt to help the flavor. The taste can be like banana, lime, or cucumber.

Farmers also use the plant to help other crops. They can use it as a rootstock through grafting. Grafting is when you join two plants together. This helps other melons grow in bad soil. It can stop certain pests from hurting the plants. The kiwano is also resistant to some diseases. However, some types can still get sick from viruses.

The *Cucumis metuliferus* is a unique plant known by many names. You might hear it called the African horned cucumber or the kiwano. Some people also call it the spiked melon or the jelly melon. This plant is an annual vine in the Cucurbitaceae family. This family includes common plants like cucumbers and melons. The fruit is easy to recognize because it has horn-like spines on its skin. These spines give the "horned melon" its name. The fruit is important for both food and survival in dry places.

This vine is native to several countries in Southern Africa. You can find it in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. It also grows in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Angola. In the Kalahari Desert, this plant is extremely important. It is one of the few sources of water during the dry season. It grows alongside the gemsbok cucumber and the tsamma, which is a type of citron melon. Because it holds water, it helps living things survive when it does not rain.

Growing the fruit involves a complex chemical process. During a 28-day period of development, several things happen inside the fruit. The fresh weight and electrical conductivity do not change. The titratable acidity also stays the same during this time. However, the pH level rises and then falls. The concentrations of reducing sugars and total soluble solids increase. This means the fruit becomes sweeter as it matures. The skin also changes color through a specific sequence. It starts green, turns whitish green, then yellow, and finally orange. This change is caused by shifts in pigments. Specifically, pigments absorbing at 431 and 663 nm decline. Meanwhile, pigments absorbing at 442 and 470 nm increase rapidly.

People have used the kiwano for a long time. In northern Zimbabwe, it is known as gaka or gakachika. People there use it as a snack or a salad. It is rarely used for decoration. You can eat the fruit at any stage of ripening. The flavor is quite interesting and varies between people. Some say it tastes like a mix of banana and passionfruit. Others compare it to cucumber and zucchini. Some even describe it as a mix of banana, cucumber, and lime. Often, the fruit is almost tasteless. Adding a small amount of salt or sugar can help improve the flavor. Some people even eat the peel. The peel is very rich in dietary fiber and vitamin C.

Farmers also use the plant for its strength in the soil. The kiwano can be used as a rootstock through a process called grafting. Grafting is when you join two plants together so they grow as one. This is useful for growing other melons in difficult conditions. Using kiwano as a rootstock can prevent growth reduction. It also helps prevent a strong buildup of *Meloidogyne incognita*. This is a type of nematode, which is a tiny worm that lives in the soil.

Like all plants, the kiwano faces challenges from pests and diseases. It is naturally resistant to several types of root-knot nematodes. Some versions of the plant are also highly resistant to the watermelon mosaic virus. However, the plant can be very sensitive to the squash mosaic virus. In Israel, squash mosaic virus and powdery mildew attacked kiwano fields. This meant farmers had to use control measures to protect the crops. Some accessions of the plant can also succumb to Fusarium wilt. The plant has shown some resistance to the greenhouse whitefly as well.

Growing the seeds successfully requires specific conditions. Germination is the process where a seed begins to grow into a plant. For the kiwano, germination is best at a specific temperature. If the temperature is too low, germination is delayed. If the temperature is too high, seed stratification is totally inhibited. Stratification is a process that some seeds need to wake up and grow. Additionally, high salinity, or salt levels in the soil, increases the time needed for full germination. The dates when a farmer sows the seeds also greatly influence how much the plant flowers and how much fruit it produces.