Editing Cantaloupe (section)

==Etymology and origin==
The cantaloupe most likely originated in a region from South Asia to Africa.<ref name="ens" /> According to New Entry, a Tufts University organization, "Cantaloupes were cultivated in Egypt and migrated across to Iran and Northwest India dating as far back to Biblical times, about 2400 B.C.E."'''<ref>{{web cite |date=28 March 2025 |title=Cantaloupe |url=https://nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/world-peas-food-hub/world-peas-csa/produce-recipes/cantaloupe}}</ref>'''

The cantaloupe is said to have been introduced to Europe from [[Armenia]]. It acquired its modern European name due to its cultivation at the Papal country estate of [[Cantalupo in Sabina|Cantalupo]].<ref name="oed">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cantaloupe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728050058/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cantaloupe |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 July 2012 |title=Cantaloupe |encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |date=2016 |access-date=26 January 2016}}</ref>  It was first mentioned in English literature in 1739.<ref name="ens">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3UD2iL4sAAC&q=origin+cantaloupe&pg=PA330 |title=Cantaloupe |encyclopedia=Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia |edition=2nd |volume=1 |author-first1=Marion Eugene |author-last1=Ensminger |author-first2=Audrey H. |author-last2=Ensminger |year=1993 |pages=329–331 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=084938981X}}</ref> It later became a commercial crop in the United States c.1890 C.E.<ref name="ens" />

The [[South African English]] name {{lang|en-ZA|spanspek|italic=yes}} dates back at least as far as 18th-century [[Dutch Suriname]]: J. van Donselaar wrote in 1770, "{{lang|nl|Spaansch-spek}} is the name for the [[form (botany)|form]] that grows in Suriname which, because of its thick skin and little flesh, is less consumed."<ref>{{cite web |date=19 October 2018 |title=How spanspek got its South African name |url=https://fullstopcom.com/2018/10/how-spanspek-got-its-south-african-name/ |publisher=Full Stop Communications}}</ref> A common etymology involves the Spanish-born {{lang|es|[[Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith]]|italic=no}}, who ate canteloupe for breakfast while her husband and 19th-century governor of [[Cape Colony]], [[Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet|Sir Harry Smith]], ate bacon and eggs; the fruit was termed ''Spanish bacon'' ([[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]] ''{{lang|af|Spaanse spek}}'') by locals as a result.<ref name="foodloversmarket.co.za">{{cite web |url=https://foodloversmarket.co.za/how-did-spanspek-get-its-name/ |title=How did spanspek get its name? |work=Food Lover's Market |date=15 January 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gondwana-collection.com/blog/spanspek/ |title=How the cantaloupe melon received its name spanspek |first=Bernd |last=Grahl |date=18 December 2015 }}</ref> However, the term had been in use long before that point.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}