The Sprite melon is a kind of melon, similar to honeydew

Honeydew (melon)

Honeydew is a cultivar group of the muskmelon, Cucumis melo Inodorus group, which includes crenshaw, casaba, Persian, winter, and other mixed melons.-Characteristics:...

, which originates from Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Since the late 1990s, it has been cultivated in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 as a specialty crop and has increased in popularity in recent years.

A sprite melon has a round shape and is typically about the size of a grapefruit

Grapefruit

The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...

. It generally ranges in weight from 1.0 to 1.5 lbs. The flesh of a sprite melon is ivory in color and firm, while the peel ranges from ivory (unripe) to yellowish (ripe). As the melon reaches optimal ripeness, horizontal brown markings will appear near the stem. Sprite melon contains seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s. The firm, juicy, sweet flesh of the sprite melon is usually eaten for dessert

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

 and tends to resemble the flavor of both pear

Pear

The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....

s and honeydew, however it is much sweeter than either of these and can often consist of 18% sugar (25% to 30% more than other melons).