The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Pumpkin

Scientific Names

Pumpkin

  • Cucurbita pepo L.
  • Gourd family

Common Names

  • Field pumpkin

Back to Top

Parts Usually Used

Seeds and husks
Back to Top

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

The pumpkin is a large, annual, creeping plant; the stem, which may reach a length of 30 feet, has branched tendrils and bears alternate, stiff-haired, triangular or ovate-triangular leaves that may be sharply or weakly lobed.  The leaves are larger than a hand and have irregularly sharp-serrate margins.  Solitary, yellow, funnel-shaped flowers with pointed lobes grow on angular peduncles that expand where the flower attaches.  Flowering time is from June to August.  The fruit is the familiar large, orange, furrowed pumpkin which contains numerous white, elliptic seeds.  This is the pumpkin made into jack-o-lanterns at Halloween.
Back to Top

Where Found

Widely cultivated in warm and temperate climates for its fruit.
Back to Top

Medicinal Properties

Anthelmintic
Back to Top

Biochemical Information

Anthelmintic properties, isprenoid compound, high mineral content, and vitamin F
Back to Top

Legends, Myths and Stories

Pumpkin seeds as a disease-preventative, has been little noticed until now.  The rejuvenating powers for men are extolled with praise by popular medicine both in America and in Europe.  Experience reveals that men in those countries where the seeds of the pumpkin plant are copiously eaten throughout a lifetime remain amazingly free of prostatic hypertrophy (prostate trouble) and all its consequences.

Men without prostate trouble show high zinc concentrations; while men with the sick prostate have low zinc concentrations.  Studies show that in regions where there is a widespread deficiency of zinc, the sex organs to not develop properly.

Pumpkin fresh flowers add flavor to salads.  Eaten as a side dish, the recipe is as follows:  Pick flowers when vines are blooming, wash and roll in paper towel to dry.  Dip in beaten egg, roll in fine bread or cracker crumbs and fry in buttered pan.

Pumpkin seeds are just about the richest natural sources of zinc nutrition ever found.  The use of pumpkin seeds for their beneficial effect on the prostate gland is as old as the ages.  (Referred to as He-man power).  A decoction of the unhulled seeds have long been of use in domestic folk-medicine.
Back to Top

Uses

Used for prostate disorders, stomach problems, worms, and nausea as in morning sickness, motion sickness and swollen prostate.  The oil of the seeds are useful for healing wounds, especially burns, and for chapped skin.
Back to Top

Formulas or Dosages

Seeds: to use for worms, crush 7-14 oz. seeds for children, up to 25 oz. for adults, and stir into fruit juice to make a mash to be eaten.  2-3 hours later, take castor oil to drive out the worms.  Take care, especially with tapeworm, that the entire worm is expelled.
Back to Top

Nutrient Content

Good source of plant protein, high mineral content, and vitamin F

Pumpkin nutrition

Back to Top

How Sold

Supermarkets and health food stores

Be sure to specify hulled or unhulled seeds
Back to Top

Resource Links

Pumpkins Could Help Control Glycemic Levels for Diabetics

Futurity: Can Pumpkins Ward Off Diabetes?

University of Nottingham: Pumpkins can ward off more than evil spirits

Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition: The Hypoglycemic Effect of Pumpkin Seeds, Trigonelline (TRG), Nicotinic Acid (NA), and D-Chiroinositol (DCI) in Controlling Glycemic Levels in Diabetes Mellitus

Pumpkins: Did You Know They are a Berry?

LiveStrong.com: Calories in Canned Pumpkin

Food.com: Pumpkin Recipes

CalorieKing: Pumpkin Pie

CalorieKing: Canned Pumpkin

U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrition Database: Canned Pumpkin

Back to Top

Bibliography

Buy It! Pumpkin, Pumpkin:: Folklore, History, Planting Hints and Good Eating by Anne Copeland, Paperback – September 30, 2019.

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992

Buy It! Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements, by James F. Balch, M.D. and Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C., Avery Publishing Group, Inc., Garden City Park, NY

Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

Buy It! How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine & Crafts, by Frances Densmore, Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974

Buy It! The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living, by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Co. (1988).

Buy It! Old Ways Rediscovered, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988

Buy It! Prairie Smoke, by Melvin R. Gilmore, Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101, copyright 1987.

Buy It! Secrets of the Chinese Herbalists, by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Company, Inc., West Nyack, NY, 1987.

Buy It! The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.

Buy It! The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book), edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

Back to Top

Share