Along with the gemsbok cucumber (Acanthosicyos naudinianus) and tsamma (citron melon), it is one of the few sources of water during the dry season in the Kalahari Desert.

[5][6] In northern Zimbabwe, it is called gaka or gakachika,[7] and is primarily used as a snack or salad, and rarely for decoration.

C. metuliferus may be used as a rootstock (via grafting) for melon to prevent both growth reduction and a strong nematode buildup in M. incognita-infested soil.

[13] During 28 days of development on the plant, fresh weight, electrical conductivity and titratable acidity of fruits do not change, pH rises and then falls, and concentrations of reducing sugars and total soluble solids increases.

In the same period, peel colour changes from green through whitish green to yellow and finally to orange, and the pigment profile shows a decline in pigments absorbing at 431 and 663 nm, and a rapid increase in those absorbing at 442 and 470 nm.