Piel de Sapo
Piel de Sapo (family Cucurbitaceae, Cucumis melo, Inodorus group) is a type of of melon widely available in the Northern Hemisphere, with a green blotched skin after which it is named. (Piel De Sapo translates as "toad skin"). With the same shape but with yellow skin there is another type know as "Amarillo" or "Yellow Canary"" melon. Piel de Sapo originated in Spain where is widely grown (about 30.000 hectares are growed every year). La Mancha is the main region in Spain producing this type with 12.000 hectares. They grow outdoors full season with plantings starting in May and running until June. Production starts in mid July and ends in September. Other important area is Murcia that has specialized in growing early crops. They plant mainly in Mid March and harvest from mid June to mid July.
It has a white sweet-tasting flesh and flourishes in slightly acidic or neutral soil. Large quantities are imported into Europe, and it is also grown in Brazil and Central America, to supply produce to Spain during autumn, winter and spring. The most popular cultivar in the last ten years in the main producing region (La Mancha) has been an hybrid named Sancho breed by the seedhouse Syngenta. Many open pollinated cultivars were grown in Spain until recently but hybrids have replaced them almost entirely as they offer to the growers higher yields and better resistances to diseases. Old cultivars have been preserved in germplasm collections.
