Whitewashing Crenshaw and Cantaloup Melons to Reduce Solar Injury

Excerpts from the report: When an inert, nontoxic whitewash was applied to maturing Crenshaw and cantaloup melons, surface and flesh temperatures of the melons were reduced by about 7° and 10° F., respectively, compared with unprotected melons. In Crenshaws, whitewashing reduced the incidence of solar injury severe enough to render the melons unmarketable to less than half that in melons that had been hand-covered with vines, the usual commercial practice. In cantaloups, whitewashing virtually eliminated severe solar injury. Whitewashing had no adverse effect on the soluble solids content of the melons or on any other criterion of quality.