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Cassaba or Melo cassaba melons are natives of Asia Minor. The ancient variety is famous for the fact that the sweetness and record juiciness of the fruits are gathered not on melon seed, but already in the process of storage.
In contrast to cantaloupe melons well known to Europeans, cassabs are almost devoid of pronounced aroma. The fruits of this species are round or barely oblate, many varieties at the base have a noticeable mastoid. Skin kassab depending on the grade may be smooth, covered with a mesh pattern or wrinkled. In some varieties, even on mature fruits, hairs are visible, usually found only in the ovaries of melons. The pulp on the cut is dense, the grass has just been cut off with cucumber flavor. Cassab melon plants are medium sized. The leaves are attached to the pubescent lashes with short, strong petioles.
In terms of ripening and the area where this variety of melons and gourds are grown, cassab type melons are conditionally divided into three varieties.
Summer cassaba melons
Summer cassabs( var. Zhukowskii) from Asia Minor and Central Asia are small in size, smooth, wrinkle-free skinned and early ripening. This group, which is actively cultivated in Asia Minor and the United States, includes several cultivar types:
- Kassaba Zhukovsky is a melon with spherical or slightly flattened, medium-sized fruits. On the yellow, smooth or slightly wrinkled skin of melons, smears and patches of dark green can be seen.
- Cassaba is spotted in shape, size and quality of the pulp is similar in the Zhukovsky variety, but the black-green spots on the peel are more visible and remain after the ripening of the melon.
- Honeydew or honey melon differs from the varieties described above in the smooth or barely reticulated bark of the fruit.
For all summer cassabs, there is a characteristic melting or slightly fibrous, thick pulp with high sugar content in ripe fruits.
It is almost impossible to store these melons, so they are most often used for local use in the growing regions. 
Maturation occurs only during storage, with the result that, under special conditions, melons are stored for 1 to 3 months.
Gurvak or Gurbek melons are also grown in Karakalpakia and around Khorezm, also belonging to kassabs, but differing from them in a round or oval shape without a protrusion and an almost smooth surface of the bark.
On the melon section you can see a juicy greenish flesh and a small cavity filled with large white or yellowish cream seeds. The term of ripening of melons of this variety is 75–105 days, but in order for the picked fruits to become sweet, they must be sustained. Upon reaching physiological ripeness, the melon is non-transportable and is used only for local consumption.
