General Information
The Galia melon has a yellow to orange skin that is covered in light golden-tan netting. Its flesh is pale green with a succulent texture that has a signature spicy sweet flavor with tropical and perfumed aromatics. Unlike many other melon varieties the tenderness of the stem end of the melon is not a good indicator of ripeness, rather, ripeness should be determined by color and development of a distinct musky aroma. The more orange in color the exterior skin of the Gaila melon the higher the sugar content of the melon’s flesh will be. Their flavor is also best when they are harvested at full to three-quarter slip stage.
History
The Galia melon was developed in the 1960’s at the Ne´ve Yaar Research Center of the Agricultural Research Organization in Israel. It was the first Israeli hybrid melon ever developed and was created by melon breeder Dr. Zvi Karchi. The melon was named after Dr. Zvi Karchi’s daughter and in Hebrew translates to “God’s wave”. Released for commercial production in 1973 the Galia melon within ten years grew to be such a popular market melon that its distribution spanned across Western Europe. Today Morocco, Turkey, and Spain are major producers of the Galia melon. They can be found growing additionally in Costa Rica, Greece, Egypt, Panama, Portugal, Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, and Israel. Galia melons are imported to Europe and the United States and in the United States in northern Florida Galia melons are now successfully being grown using greenhouse technology.
