Mangoes are often confused with melons, but they belong to the drupe family instead. Even though they may share some similarities with melons, they present a lot of differences.
In the rest of this guide, I’ll discuss why you may think they’re the same, what makes them different, and everything else you need to learn.
So, let’s discuss!
Reasons Why Mangoes Are Confused for Melons
Mangoes are often confused for melons based on their shape, large size in some cultivating areas, and formation of the seed inside the fruit.
In summary, here are some of the reasons why a mango may be mistaken to be a part of the melon family:
- Shape. Mangoes bear a tiny semblance to cantaloupes, which are also melon fruit.
- Size. Some mangoes can grow to be the size of golden melons and small cantaloupes. Even though they don’t grow to be the size of watermelons, the former similar sizes confuse them for this category.
- Fruit. Some melons have their seed in the middle, the same as mangoes.
However, that they look similar doesn’t mean they’re the same. So, continue below to find some differences.
Good Read: When is the Mango Season in the US?
How Do Mangoes Differ From Melons?
Mangoes grow on tall trees, whereas melons are usually climbing plants that need external stem support. Also, mangoes have edible flesh, a feature lacking in most melons.
I’ve compressed some of the significant differences between mangoes and melons into the bullet points below:
- Edible flesh. You can’t eat the flesh on cantaloupe or watermelon. Granted, some melons (like the golden melon) have edible flesh, but not all.
- Tree type. Mango trees can grow to be 30-40 feet tall. In contrast, melons are thin-spined plants that need external stems to grow tall. Still, they won’t reach the heights of mango trees.
- Bigger seed. Melons have characteristic tiny, numerous seeds. Mangoes, on the other hand, have just one more giant seed.
- Family. Melons scientifically belong to another family (Cucumis or Citrullus) from mangoes (Mangifera family).
What Kind of Fruit Is a Mango?
Mangoes are classified as drupes for having a fleshy, edible outside and a rock-solid seed in the middle. Plus, mangoes have a single fruit (instead of multiple seeds) in the middle, which satisfies the category of the drupe family.
They share this fruit category with others like cherries, peaches, and olives.
What Is a Mango Melon?
There’s no such thing as a mango melon. The term may simply be used to loosely define large mango fruits, which are common in regions like India, other parts of Southeast Asia, and sometimes Hawaii.
These mango melons are more enormous than the average, regular-sized mangoes. Thus, the term best describes them rather than indicating that they may belong to the melon family.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the mango family is essential to those who want a mix of fruit families in their meals, plan a fruit diet, or simply for academic reasons.
No matter your reason for looking this up, I’m sure you must have found what you were looking for.
