Pumpkin Seed Oil Benefits and Side Effects

Pumpkin Seed Oil Benefits and Side
Effects.
Pumpkin seed oil has been widely used without serious side effects. A few
reports of animal studies suggest its potential health benefits on cardiovascular
systems and anti-cancer activities.

Pumpkin [Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima]

Pumpkins are native to North and Central America. Native Americans used
pumpkin flesh/seeds for food, seeds to treat intestinal infections and various
kidney problems and flowers to soothe minor injuries.

Ingredients and Nutritional Values
Its active ingredients include essential fatty acids, amino acids, phytosterols
(including beta-sitosterol), minerals and vitamins.

Pumpkin Seed Meal has a high calorie content of 568 calories/100 g. [A1]
Crude protein content in dry matter of a typical pumpkin seed cake is about
598.0 g/kg.

Seed kernels of pumpkin are rich in fat soluble vitamins, oil and protein,
containing considerable amounts of P, K, Mg, Mn, and Ca. [6, 8] Roasted
pumpkin contains a significantly high amount of carotenoids, especially
zeaxanthin. [A8] Pumpkin seed kernel flour has high values of chemical score,
essential amino acid index, and in vitro protein digestibility. It could be
potentially added to food systems such as bakery products and ground meat
formulations as a nutrient supplement as well as a functional agent. [A6]

Pumpkin Seed Oil has high amounts of unsaturated fatty acids with linoleic
and oleic acids as the major acids. [A6]

Major Benefits

Benign Prostate Symptoms
Pumpkin seed oil is always combined with saw palmetto to reduce symptoms
of BPH [1,2]. It alone has also been used to reduce BPH's symptoms[3,4].
Pumpkin seed oil extracts standardized for fatty acid content have been used
in BPH studies. Men suffered from BPH usually take 160 mg three times a day
with meal[12].

Potential Benefits

Parasites
Curcurbitin in pumpkin seeds has shown anti-parasitic activity in vi-vitro[5].
Chinese scientists used pumpkin seeds to treat acute schistosomiasis and
tapeworm infestations [6-8].

Depression
L-tryptophan in pumpkin seeds are suggested to help remedy depression[9].

Kidney Stone
In Thailand, people use pumpkin seeds to prevent kidney stone [10-11].
Pumpkin seeds appear to slow down the stone formation in the urine.

Anti-Oxidant Activities and Cardiac Related Conditions
Pumpkin seeds have long been used for health benefits and the seed oils of
pumpkin may also contain many active beneficial components. The active
beneficial components may protect important biological molecules from
oxidative stress. [A8]

Pumpkin seed oil is a rich source of antioxidants and polyunsaturated fatty
acids [A2].

Administration of pumpkin seed oil to rats suffered from arthritis was found to
improve the signs of arthritis such as paw oedema. [A2]

Administration of pumpkin seed oil together with simvastatin to high
cholesterol-fed rabbits, for three weeks caused a significant reduction of the
aortic contractile response to norepinephrine and to normalize the most
adverse effects observed during hypercholesterolemia. [A3]

A study suggested that pumpkin seed oil might enhance the blood pressure
lowering effect of calcium antagonist felodipine or angiotensin-converting
enzyme inhibitor (ACE-inhibitor), captopril. [A5]

Pumpkin seed protein isolate has shown benefits on the liver health in an
animal study. The administration of pumpkin seed protein isolates after
carbon tetrachloride intoxication resulted in significantly reduced activity levels
of lactate dehydrogenase (LD), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate
transaminase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). [A7]

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[A1] Salgado JM Chemical and biological characterization of meal and protein isolates
from pumpkin seed (Cucurbita moschata)] Arch Latinoam Nutr. 1992 Dec;42(4):443-50.
[A2] Fahim AT et al, Effect of pumpkin-seed oil on the level of free radical scavengers
induced during adjuvant-arthritis in rats. Pharmacol Res. 1995 Jan;31(1):73-9. [A3]
al-Zuhair H et al, Efficacy of simvastatin and pumpkin-seed oil in the management of
dietary-induced hypercholesterolemia. Pharmacol Res. 1997 May;35(5):403-8. [A4]
Zdunczyk Z, Comparative study of the chemical composition and nutritional value of
pumpkin seed cake, soybean meal and casein. Nahrung. 1999 Dec;43(6):392-5. [5]
Zuhair HA et al, Pumpkin-seed oil modulates the effect of felodipine and captopril in
spontaneously hypertensive rats. Pharmacol Res. 2000 May;41(5):555-63. [A6} rmelon,
pumpkin, and paprika seed oils and flours. J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Mar;49(3):1253-9.
[A7] Nkosi CZ Effect of pumpkin seed (Cucurbita pepo) protein isolate on the activity
levels of certain plasma enzymes in CCl4-induced liver injury in low-protein fed rats.
Phytother Res. 2005 Apr;19(4):341-5. [A8] J. W. Parry et al, Antioxidant properties and
phytochemical contents of cold-pressed onion, parsley, cardamom, mullein, roasted
pumpkin, and milk thistle seed oils. 2006 FDA Science Forum [1] Carbin et al.
Treatment by Curbicin in BPH. Swed J Biol Med 1989;2:7-9. [2] Carbin et al. Treatment
of BPH with phytosterols. Br J Urol 1990;66:639-41. [3] Schiebel-Schlosser et al.
Phytotherapy of BPH with pumpkin seeds-a multicenter clinical trial. Zeits Phytother
1998;19:71-6. [4] Zhang et al. Effect of the extracts of pumpkin seeds on the
urodynamics of rabbits: an experimental study. J Tongji Med Univ 1994;14:235-8. [5]
Rybaitavski et al. On the discovery of cucurbitin-a component of pumpkin seed with
anthelmintic action. Med Parazitol(Mosk) 1966;35:487-8. [6] Chou et al. Pumpkin seed
in the treatment of acute schistosomiasis. Chin Med J 1960:80:115-20. [7] Chun et al.
Treatment of Taenia saginata infection. Chung Hua Min Kuo Wei Sheng Wu Hsueh Tsa
Chih 1976;9:31-5. [8] Plotnikov et al. Clinical trial of cucurbin in cestodiasis. Med
Parazitol (Mosk) 1972;41:407-11. [9] Eagles et al. Treatment of depression with
pumpkin seeds. Br. J Psychiatry 1990;157:937-8. [10] Suphakam et al. The effect of
pumpkin seeds on oxalcrystalluria and urinary compositions of children in hyperendemic
area. Am J Clin Nutr 1987;45:115-21. [11] Suphiphat et al. The effect of pumpkin seeds
snack on inhibitors and promoters of urolithiasis in Thai adolescents. J Med Assoc Thai
1993;76:487-93. [12] Carbin et al. Treatment of BPH with phytosterols. Br J Urol
1990;66:639-41.

NUTRITIONAL VALUES OF A
PUMPKIN SEED CAKE

The main fatty acids in a typical
pumpkin seed cake were oleic
acid (50.4%) and linoleic acid
(29.9%).

Protein found in a typical pumpkin
seed cake contained considerable
quantities of tryptophan (1.54 g/16
g N), lysine (3.21 g/16 g N) and
isoleucine (3.83 g/16 g N).

A typical pumpkin seed cake also
contain small quantities (activities)
of phenolic compounds (2.61
g/kg), trypsin inhibitors (1.33
TUI/mg) and alpha-galactosides
(19.9 g/kg). [A4]