Modern people need to pay attention to what they eat. Melon has excellent qualities: it is characterized by pulpiness, aroma, extraordinary sweet taste. When used moderately, it is helpful. But not everyone knows the usefulness of dried melon. And it brings no less benefit to the human body than fresh, and the same sweet, fragrant and tasty.
The benefits and harm of delicacies
Melon - gourd culture from the pumpkin family, which is a false round berry with a yellowish, whitish, brownish, greenish tinge and longitudinal stripes. Maturation term up to two months. It is able to grow almost everywhere.
The problem, which is important for lovers of this fruit, is its absence during the winter season. But there is a solution - dried fruit. Their taste is significantly different from the taste of fresh berries. Dried melon is extremely useful. It is extremely rich in nutrients: vitamins A, C, D, PP, riboflavin, pyridoxine, folic acid, beta-carotene, iron, starch, sugar, mineral salts, proteins and fiber. 
Important! The list of useful properties of dried melon is not inferior to fresh, because when drying, vitamins and other useful substances are not lost.The pulp of the fruit helps to strengthen the capillaries, hair and bones, improve the functioning of the circulatory system. Berry is of benefit for those who have problems with cardiovascular organs, suffer from jaundice, edema, urolithiasis, are experiencing disturbances in the functioning of the nervous and mental systems. Folic acid in the composition of the product can provide an invaluable service to women during pregnancy and menopause.
Dried fruit has a positive effect on the restoration of hormonal balance, improves the body's immune system, memory, and also helps to avoid depression. Due to the presence of special enzymes in its composition, the berry helps to overcome insomnia, gain strength, balance the psychological state with irritability, while not allowing the nerve cells to collapse, preserving their viability.
Important! Considering how many calories are in dried melon (341 Kcal per 100 g), unlike fresh berries, in which a little more than 30 Kcal per 100 g, if you want to lose weight with these dried fruits need to be careful not to abuse.
Beta-carotene, which is in the composition of the fetus, nourishes the skin, makes hair shine, makes nails stronger, helps to maintain tanning in summer. Berry to some extent helps get rid of freckles, age spots, acne.As for the possible harm, the berry itself cannot harm, but in combination with honey, products of alcoholic and dairy origin, digestive disorders are possible. Diabetics are also advised to refrain from consuming dried melon due to the elevated sugar level in its composition.
Abuse of this fruit (as well as any other product) is able to discourage them from eating again for a long time. It is not recommended to give melon as food to children up to one year, as this is a rather heavy product.
Did you know? Homeland melon is Africa and Asia Minor.
What can you use dried melon
Dried melon is a unique delicacy with an exquisite taste. It is used as a dessert, appetizer, salad ingredient, a delicious additive to ice cream, pastries, with its participation make salty sandwiches and many other dishes for the amateur. 
Stocks of dried fruit from this fruit will be useful in every home, because dried melon can give a special taste to familiar dishes, and is also an ingredient for preparing new exotic foods. It is used in the preparation of tea, as well as used for cosmetic purposes.
With a generous harvest, you can make different preparations for the winter of melon.
Which melon is better to take for drying
To dry, you need only high-quality selected fruits. Sugar varieties with a rather elastic flesh are best suited for drying. These include "collective farm", as well as "Gulyabi", "Ditma", "Persian". The fruit must be strong and slightly immature.
Popular methods
You can dry melon fruits in several ways. They should be free of moisture, unlike dried fruits, in which a small amount of moisture is acceptable. Before starting the process of drying the berries should be thoroughly washed, cut into pieces, remove the seeds. Then you need to remove the upper hard layer and cut the pulp into small strips - up to two centimeters. After that, the pieces are evenly distributed depending on the chosen method of drying. 
Did you know? The heaviest melon was grown by Austrian Styrian Christopher Schieder in 2009, its weight is 500 kg.
In the open air
It is necessary to dry the berries in the open air and in the open sunshine in the summertime, as well as attic rooms with good ventilation are suitable for natural drying. You need to dry on an easily absorbing and at the same time quickly drying clean material or tie up on a string, wire.
Drying occurs until complete evaporation of moisture from the fruit, approximately this process lasts from 8 to 12 days. Every day, be sure to turn the pieces of melon so that they dry evenly.
However, this method of drying has a drawback - insects that are not indifferent to the sweet taste of the berries, can harm the blanks, so they need to cover with gauze.
It is interesting to know how to dry grapes, cherries, plums, apples, bananas, beets, basil, eggplants, zucchini, garlic, mushrooms.
In the electric dryer
Melon, dried in an electric dryer, is also used in a variety of recipes. With this method, the useful properties of the product are not lost at all. In an electric dryer for vegetables and fruits, the optimum temperature for drying this berry is 60 ° C, and the billet will dry for approximately 8 hours. Blanks need to be spread on trays in one layer at a short distance from each other.
In the oven
The best option for drying melon - oven. The process takes place in several stages. The oven is heated to 220 ° C, the slices are cut into the pan so that they do not touch each other, inserted into the oven and left for a quarter of an hour.
Then the temperature is reduced to 85 ° C, the oven door needs to be slightly opened and left in this position for about 6 hours. The pieces are turned over every 30 minutes. After that, the dried billets remain in the room until their final drying.
How to check readiness
The readiness of dried berries is determined quite easily: it should be soft, slightly sticky and quite elastic. Properly dried preforms have a light brown tint.
How to store dried melon at home
The best ways to store dried fruit are glass jars or tissue bags. Of these, you can also weave a pigtail, put it in food film and determine it for storage in a refrigerator. Since when drying, not fully ripe melons are used, the dried version may seem sweet to those who are not sweet enough, so ready dried melon can be powdered with powdered sugar before consumption.
Dried melon is undoubtedly a very useful, tasty and easy-to-use product that is almost as good as fresh and even surpasses it in some ways. And the fact that in the middle of winter you can feel some summer makes it especially attractive.
