Picture the scene at you local grocery store.  Whole melons are not refrigerated.  And according to Dana Greene, RD, a registered dietitian in Boston, we are better off not putting melons in the fridge until after they are cut for some very healthy reasons especially if we want to get all the healthy perks!

According to a recent RD article for The Healthy, "At the grocery store, you’ll find whole cantaloupe, watermelon, and honeydew in the produce section at room temperature. This is what you should do when you take whole, uncut melons home too, Greene says. Keeping whole watermelons at room temperature may even maximize their nutritional value.

When stored at room temp, watermelon has double the amount of the antioxidant beta carotene and 20 percent more lycopene, another antioxidant powerhouse, according to a study in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

Cut melons, however, are another story, says Greene. “Storing cut melons at room temperature can lead to rapid growth of bacteria because they no longer have the protective shell.”

So make room on the kitchen counter this summer.  The melons are staying out of the fridge!