Re: I eat Melons all the time!

[Guest guest]

excerpt from essay entitled " Penicillin " by Yankai Sun, Serendipitous

Discovery, 10/27/2005

" Besides the serendipity of discovering penicillin by Fleming, there were

other serendipitous aspects associated with testing and refining penicillin.

Finding an excessive amount of penicillin was not easy before Hunt, known

as “Moldy â€, who regularly examined moldy vegetables and fruits at

Peoria groceries. At the end “Moldy †serendipitously found that the

“goodâ€

mold grew best on cantaloupes. This serendipitous discovery also provided a

major breakthrough in increasing the production of penicillin. Also, the

Oxford team used species that did not find penicillin toxic as their models for

demonstrating penicillin’s therapeutic potential. Had they chosen working with

a different species, they might come to a conclusion that penicillin was

toxic for using on animals [2]. Therefore, people would not have this wonderful

drug today. "

[Guest guest]

Excerpt taken from

_http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/datastore/detailreport.cfm?usernumber=7 & surveynumber=

267_

(http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/datastore/detailreport.cfm?usernumber=7 & surveynumber=26\

7)

“However, superficial mold development on cantaloupes, either conventional

or organic, is not uncommon following handling injuries (particularly scuffing

or abrasion to the netted rind, and especially combined with improper or

inadequate cold chain management. Blackish to blackish-green mold, typically

Alternaria spp, will invariably develop over time on cantaloupes, sometimes

first observed at the stem scar where nutrients are exuded at the moment of

" slip " or harvest. Other dark or " sooty " molds may be present on the surface of

cantaloupes (and many other leaves and fruits) due to insect (aphid, leaf

hopper, etc) feeding activity leaving nutrient laden deposits on the rind.

Whatever the cause, the primary questions become; Is the product quality

reduced? Is

the product safe to eat? Will consumers buy the melons anyway? There are no

Yes/ No answers to any of these questions. Most likely the edible flesh is

unaffected if the mold is truly superficial, however, all but the dedicated or

bargain-conscious consumers are unlikely to pick up and then purchase an even

partially moldy melon.†--_Trevor Suslow_

(http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/datastore/detailreport.cfm?usernumber=35 & surveynumber=1\

83)