| Headword | Mantua melon |
| Domain and subdomain | Nutrition – fruits |
| Grammatical label | Noun, sing. |
| Definition | It is both the fruit with an ovoid form with yellow or orange pulp, both the plant that produces it, an herbaceous plant with foiled leaves, member of the Cucurbitaceae family. (1) |
| Note | Mnatua Melon PGI is a variety of the melon typical of the region Lombardia and it is cultivated in the area of Mantua but also in some areas of Cremona. This fruit, with a sweet flavour and an intense parfum can be found in two different varieties: smooth-skinned or netted. The smooth one is characterised by a grey/green or yellow-coloured skin, while the netted one is yellow with green lines. It is perfect for desserts and starters, it is rich in vitamin C and it controls the presence of sugar in the blood. (2) One of the typical and most savoury summer dishes surely is “Prosciutto (ham) e melone”, a perfect combination that can be changed by substituting the ham with local cured meat, for example baked ham. Moreover, the melon can be used as an ingredient for many recipes, for example the melon ice-cream, the jam of melon and the melon liquor, called “melloncello”. (3) |
| Context | There is historical documentary evidence dating back to the 1400s, as well as written accounts in the archives of the Gonzaga family of Mantua, referring to “plots of land for growing the melons of these areas”. This confirms that even then the Mantua melon was highly popular in that particular part of Italy. (4) |
| Phonetic transcription | [ mæntjʊə ˈmɛlən] |
| Synonyms/Variations | ND |
| Etymology | Late Middle English: via Old French from late Latin melo, melon-, contraction of Latin melopepo, from Greek mēlopepōn, from mēlon ‘apple’ + pepōn ‘gourd’. (5) Mantua is a town of the Italian region Lombardia. |
| Picture of the product |  (6) |
| Equivalents | ITA Melone mantovano FRA Melone mantovano ESP Melón Mantovano RO Melone mantovano |
| Note of the equivalents | ND |
| Organisation | Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali |
| Date | 02/08/2021 |
| Last date of change/modification | 31/05/2023 |
| Author Revisor | Margherita Baroni Gloria Zanella |
| Sources | 1) Grande Dizionario Italiano di Gabrielli Aldo 2) www.melonemantovano.it 3) https://primochef.it/melone/lifestyle/?refresh_ce 4) https://www.finedininglovers.com/article/italian-delicacies-mantua-melon-pgi 5) https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/ 6) https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.piaceridellavita.com%2Fimages%2Fmelone_mantovano580a.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.piaceridellavita.com%2Fdop-igp%2F1548-melone-mantovano-igp%2C-la-dolcezza.html&tbnid=lGvYTpuTpDNyhM&vet=12ahUKEwiQv5KqwIXyAhW-4bsIHaAVBvIQMygNegUIARC7AQ..i&docid=inDyI64P0hQFSM&w=580&h=350&q=melone%20mantovano&ved=2ahUKEwiQv5KqwIXyAhW-4bsIHaAVBvIQMygNegUIARC7AQ |
