Cuisine
Pumpkin seeds are a common ingredient in Mexican cuisine and are also roasted and served as a snack. Marinated and roasted, they are an autumn seasonal snack in the United States, as well as a commercially produced and distributed packaged snack, like sunflower seeds, available year-round. Pepitas are known by their Spanish name (usually shortened), and typically salted and sometimes spiced after roasting (and today also available as a packaged product), in Mexico and other Latin American countries, in the American Southwest, and in specialty and Mexican food stores. The earliest known evidence of the domestication of ''Cucurbita'' dates back 8,000–10,000 years ago, predating the domestication of other crops such as maize and Phaseolus vulgaris, common beans in the region by about 4,000 years. Changes in fruit shape and color indicate intentional breeding of ''C. pepo'' occurred by no later than 8,000 years ago. The process to develop the agricultural knowledge of crop domestication took place over 5,000–6,500 years in Mesoamerica. Squash was domesticated first, with maize second, followed by beans, all becoming part of the Three Sisters (agriculture), Three Sisters agricultural system. As an ingredient in Mole (sauce), mole dishes, they are known in Spanish as ''pipián''. A Mexican snack using pepitas in an artisan fashion is referred to as ''pepitoría''. Lightly roasted, salted, unhulled pumpkin seeds are popular in Greece with the descriptive name el, πασατέμπο, pasatémbo, label=none, from it, passatempo, , lit=pastime. The pressed oil of the roasted seeds of a ''Cucurbita pepo'' subsp. ''pepo'' var. 'styriaca' is also used in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe as cuisine. An example of this is pumpkin seed oil. Pumpkin seeds can also be made into a nut butter. Pumpkin seeds can also be used steeped in rectified spirit, neutral alcohol, which is then distilled to produce an ''eau de vie''. A Salsa (Mexican cuisine), salsa made of pumpkin seeds known as ''sikil pak'' is a traditional dish of the Yucatán.Nutrition
Dried, roasted pumpkin seeds are 2% water, 49% fat, 15% carbohydrates, and 30% protein (table). In a 100 gram reference serving, the seeds are calorie-dense (574 kcal), and a rich source (20% of the Daily Value, DV, or higher) of protein, dietary fiber, Niacin (nutrient), niacin, iron, zinc, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorus (table). The seeds are a moderate source (10–19% DV) of riboflavin, folate, pantothenic acid, sodium, and potassium (table). Major fatty acids in pumpkin seeds are linoleic acid and oleic acid, with palmitic acid and stearic acid in lesser amounts.Oil
Pumpkin seed oil, a culinary specialty in and important export commodity of Central Europe, is used in cuisine as a salad and cooking oil. The following are ranges of fatty acid content in ''C. maxima'' pepitas: The data are found in Tables 1–3 on pp. 4006–4010 oTraditional medicine
Pumpkin seeds were once used as an anthelmintic in traditional medicine in China to expel tapeworms parasites, such as ''Taenia (genus), Taenia'' tapeworms. This led to the seeds being listed in the ''United States Pharmacopoeia'' as an antiparasitic from 1863 until 1936.Market
Due to their versatility as a food product ingredient or snack, pumpkin seeds are projected to grow in sales by 13% annually and reach $631 million from 2020 to 2024. Demand from China and new varieties having seeds without hulls to make them easier to digest are major reasons for increased growth.See also
* Cucurbitacin * Cucurbitin * Egusi * List of edible seeds * List of squash and pumpkin dishesReferences
{{Mexican cuisine Edible nuts and seeds Mexican cuisine Squashes and pumpkins Squash and pumpkin dishes