D. V. Surya Prakash

Cucurbita or Pumpkin comes under the family of Cucurbitaceae called as Cucurbit species. It is native fruit of North America. Cucurbita is an annual creeping or climbing plant. Its shallow root system is well developed from taproot. It is sphere in shape with a hollow center where the seeds are present in a network structure. Cucurbita is a monoecious plant (unisexual flower) with male and female on the same plant and bears solitary actinomorphic flowers that produces nectar. Seeds of pumpkin are considered as agro industrial waste and it is usually discarded. Seeds are generally oval, offwhite and flat disc in appearance. Pumpkin is of great interest as it is rich in nutrients, antifungal, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antiinflamatory, antioxidant, anticancer, antiulcer.