Pumpkin

PUMPKIN, Cucurbita pepo L., an annual garden plant cultivated throughout the USSR except for the extreme north. The fruit is widely used in cooking and the food industry (especially in confectionery and canning), contains a significant amount of vitamin C, and is therefore especially recommended as food for scurvy patients, as well as for prophylactic purposes. Medical application is found in pumpkin seeds, Semen Cucurbitae, Semen Pepo, which are white or yellow, flattened, oval-pointed seeds with a prominent border; length 1–2 cm, width 0.6–1.2 cm. The kernel is usually green, with a pleasant oily taste, containing up to 27% fatty oil, protein, the free amino acids leucine and tyrosine, sugar, etc. Fresh seeds contain a resinous substance that kills various worms, which is why it is used as an anthelmintic agent. Active substances could not be found in dry seeds. It is possible that a strongly reducing fatty oil (up to 45% linoleic acid glyceride) participates in the action of the seeds. Dosage: up to 200 kernels (without shells) per single dose (chewed); 6–10 hours later, a laxative.