Cantaloupe is often praised for its sweetness and hydration, but it is also a genuinely useful source of vitamin C. A 100 g serving of raw cantaloupe provides about 36.7 mg of vitamin C, which is roughly 41% of the 90 mg Daily Value used on Nutrition Facts labels.
Use this calculator to convert any portion into milligrams and percent Daily Value. You can enter grams, ounces, cups of diced cubes, cups of balls, or choose a preset such as 100 g, 1 cup, or half a melon.
This tool is especially handy for meal planning, micronutrient tracking, RDA discussions, and anyone curious about how a single fruit contributes to daily vitamin C needs.
🧺 Enter Your Cantaloupe Portion
📊 Results
How to Use This Calculator
Enter the amount of cantaloupe you plan to eat in the first input and choose the matching unit from the dropdown. The calculator accepts grams, ounces, cups of diced melon, and cups of melon balls. The preset buttons above the form insert common serving sizes: 100 g, 1 cup of diced cubes (about 160 g), 1 cup of melon balls (about 177 g), or roughly half a medium melon (about 276 g of edible flesh). After you press Calculate, the tool reports the portion weight in grams, the total vitamin C in milligrams, and the percentage of the 90 mg Daily Value supplied by that portion.
If you already know your portion in cups but not its weight, the cup options build the conversion into the calc. A half-cup of cantaloupe balls, for example, is 0.5 in the amount box with the cups balls unit selected. The gram and ounce options are useful when you weigh your food or when a recipe lists cantaloupe in metric quantities.
The Math Behind the Result
Raw cantaloupe contains roughly 36.7 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of edible flesh, according to USDA reference data. The calculator applies this value to any portion using two steps. First, it converts your selected unit into grams. One ounce equals 28.3495 g, 1 US cup of diced cantaloupe equals about 160 g, and 1 US cup of cantaloupe balls equals about 177 g. Second, it multiplies the grams by 0.367 mg/g, which is equivalent to dividing by 100 and multiplying by 36.7. The result is your total vitamin C. To express it as a percentage of the Daily Value, the tool divides the total by 90 mg and multiplies by 100.
The same calculation works for any unit: 250 g of cantaloupe supplies 91.8 mg, which exceeds the full Daily Value by itself. Because the per-100 g value is a fixed reference, the math stays transparent and easy to check.
Reference: Vitamin C in Cantaloupe vs Other Foods
The table below lists approximate vitamin C per 100 g for raw edible portions, based on USDA FoodData Central values. Cantaloupe is a solid mid-range contributor: it is not as concentrated as guava or kiwi, but a normal one-cup serving still makes a meaningful dent in your daily target.
| Food | Vitamin C per 100 g | % of 90 mg DV |
|---|---|---|
| Cantaloupe, raw | 36.7 mg | 41% |
| Orange, raw | 53.2 mg | 59% |
| Strawberries, raw | 58.8 mg | 65% |
| Broccoli, raw | 89.2 mg | 99% |
| Kiwifruit, green | 92.7 mg | 103% |
| Guava, raw | 228.3 mg | 254% |
If you track several foods separately, you can use the same approach for other single-ingredient vitamin C calculators, such as Mushroom Vitamin C Calculator or Nectarine Vitamin C Calculator, to compare contributions across your day.
Tips for Getting the Most Vitamin C
Vitamin C is water-soluble and sensitive to heat, light, and oxygen. To preserve the vitamin C in cantaloupe, buy fruit that feels heavy for its size and smells sweet at the stem end, then cut it shortly before eating. Once cut, keep the pieces in a sealed container in the refrigerator and eat them within three to four days. Repeated washing, long exposure to air, and high cooking temperatures all accelerate vitamin C losses, so enjoy cantaloupe raw and freshly prepared whenever possible.
Do not judge a melon by exterior color alone. The edible flesh ranges from pale orange to deep salmon, and the deeper-colored flesh often indicates greater ripeness. A ripe cantaloupe will have a slightly soft blossom end and a fragrant aroma.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the vitamin C content the same for frozen or canned cantaloupe? Not exactly. Freezing and canning can cause some vitamin C loss, and canned products often contain added syrup. The 36.7 mg per 100 g figure is for raw, fresh cantaloupe. If you use frozen or canned fruit, treat the result as a rough estimate and check the package label for specific nutrient values when available.
Does the variety of cantaloupe matter? Yes, to a moderate degree. Varietal differences, growing conditions, ripeness at harvest, and storage duration all affect the final vitamin C concentration. The calculator uses a USDA reference value that represents a typical raw cantaloupe, so individual melons may be slightly higher or lower.
Can cantaloupe be my only source of vitamin C for the day? A 1-cup serving provides about 65 mg of vitamin C, roughly 72% of the 90 mg Daily Value. It can be an important part of a vitamin-C-rich diet, but most people benefit from also eating citrus fruit, berries, or vegetables such as broccoli and bell peppers.
Limitations and Precision Notes
This tool is designed for nutrition education and meal planning, not as medical advice. The result depends on the density and moisture content of the melon, which changes with ripeness and variety. The cup conversions are standard approximations: one cup of diced cantaloupe is usually close to 160 g and one cup of balls is close to 177 g, but your packed portion can differ by 5–10%. Weighing the flesh in grams is the most accurate way to use the calculator. The total vitamin C is rounded to one decimal place in the result, and the Daily Value percentage is rounded to one decimal place; a portion that supplies more than 90 mg simply shows a percentage above 100%.
For authoritative nutrient data, consult the USDA FoodData Central database. The FDA explains Daily Value references on its Daily Value guidance page.