How many calories in a cantaloupe?
The cantaloupe is a highly nutritious fruit, hailing from various parts of the world. This page is dedicated to letting you know how many calories in cantaloupe, so that you can make an informed decision as to what role this melon-like fruit can play in your diet.
In addition to covering cantaloupe calories we will provide you with all of the information that you could ever need on cantaloupe nutrition facts, so that you can see exactly what benefits you can obtain from eating this healthy fruit. We are also going to answer the question 'is cantaloupe good for you?'.
Before we proceed, let's start of with a little bit of general information on the fruit known as the cantaloupe.
The cantaloupe, or 'rockmelon' as it is also commonly known as, comes from the family of Cucurbitaceae, which includes the vast majority of melons and squashes. They have a unique appearance in that the out hard layer of skin/rind, looks as though it is netted in texture. Inside the orange flesh is something that is highly nutritious and of course edible. The cantaloupe hails from warmer climates such as Africa and India, although it is presently cultivated in various parts of the world including Europe and North America.
There are a huge range of nutritional benefits that can be obtained by including the cantaloupe in your diet, and these are highlighted further down the page in our section all about cantaloupe nutrition. Being a perfect example of fruit as it is, the cantaloupe is rarely something that is made into anything else such as a jam or juice, although it makes a wonderful ingredient to a fruit salad.
How many calories in cantaloupe?
Cantaloupes, just like any other fruit, can come in all different sizes, so it is natural for people to think that the number of calories a cantaloupe contains will vary depending on the size of the fruit. In order to be as close as possible we have broken down the sizes of a cantaloupe down for you. The calorie figures below are for the raw edible parts of the cantaloupe, whereby the weight will include the skin for the whole fruit examples.
Calories in a small cantaloupe
- A whole cantaloupe that weighs 30.5oz (15.6oz edible) and has an approximate 4.25 inch diameter is adjudged to be a small cantaloupe, and there are 150 calories in these cantaloupes.
Medium cantaloupe calories
- A whole cantaloupe that weighs 38.2oz (19.5oz edible) and has an approximate 5 inch diameter is adjudged to be a medium sized cantaloupe, and there are 188 calories in these cantaloupes.
Calories in a large cantaloupe
- A whole cantaloupe that weighs 56.3oz (28.7oz edible) and has an approximate 6.5 inch diameter is adjudged to be a large cantaloupe, and there are 277 calories in these cantaloupes.
Cantaloupe calories - wedge portions
- In a 3.2 oz wedge from a small sized cantaloupe including the skin/rind, there are 19 calories
- In a 4 oz wedge from a medium sized cantaloupe including the skin/rind, there are 23 calories
- In a 5.9 oz wedge from a large sized cantaloupe including the skin/rind, there are 35 calories
Please note that the wedges are approximately one eighth of the fruit.
How many calories in a cup of cantaloupe?
- In a 5.5 ox cup of cantaloupe chunks there are 53 calories
Calories cantaloupe contains by weight:
- In 1 oz of cantaloupe there are 10 calories
- In 10 g of cantaloupe there are 3 calories
- In a 5.5 oz cup of cantaloupe chunks there are 54 calories
Please note that the above calories in cantaloupes list only shows approximations, as we cannot be exact due to no two cantaloupes being exactly the same size and weight. The lists are also for raw cantaloupes only and calories will vary should the fruit be cooked.
Remember, when we are thinking about the total number of calories in a cantaloupe, it is important to recognise that these totals are not a great deal in relation to your total daily calorie requirements.
In our next section we are going to provide you with information on cantaloupe nutritional facts.
Is cantaloupe good for you?
So is cantaloupe good for you? With large amounts of vitamins A and C, alongside a wealth of other nutrients, and the fact it has very few calories in it, it is fair to say that the cantaloupe is a fruit that is definitely good for you. This is highlighted below in the list of cantaloupe nutritional benefits.
Cantaloupe nutrition facts
The following nutritional information about the cantaloupe is based on 3.5 oz or 100 g of raw cantaloupe:
- Vitamin A - 169 micrograms (an impressive 21% of your recommended daily allowance)
- Beta Carotene - 2020 micrograms
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) - 0.041 milligrams
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) - 0.019 milligrams
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin) - 0.734 milligrams
- Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) - 0.105 milligrams
- Vitamin B6 - 0.072 milligrams
- Vitamin B9 (Folate) - 21 micrograms
- Vitamin C - 36.7 milligrams (this is a massive 44% of your recommended daily allowance)
- Vitamin E- 0.05 milligrams
- Vitamin K - 2.5 micrograms
- Calcium - 9 milligrams
- Iron - 0.21 milligrams
- Magnesium - 12 milligrams
- Phosphorous - 15 milligrams
- Potassium - 264.5 mg
- Zinc - 0.18 milligrams
- Protein - 1.84 g
- Fat - 0.19 g
- Dietary Fiber - 0.9 g
- Sugars - 7.86
- Carbohydrates - 8.16 g
- Water - 90.15 g
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantaloupe
More information
We hope that you found the above information about the number of calories in cantaloupe useful, along with the cantaloupe nutrition facts that we have provided.
For more information on calories in various other fruits and popular foods, please take a look at the menu on the left hand side of the page.