A review on health benefits and nutritional composition of pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin belongs to the genus Cucurbita and family Cucurbitaceae is grown all around the world for a variety of reasons. It is used as a food material, animal feed, and for decoration purposes. Though the flesh of different vegetables have found their way into the Indian diet for time immemorial, the seeds have almost always been discarded as waste in spite of having a great nutritive value. After harvesting, the seeds are often used as animal feed, ground up for fertilizer or even discarded in spite of having very nutritious and best quality oil and rich source of protein. With increased public awareness in sustainable agriculture, clean and efficient energy and waste management technologies, pumpkin seeds have the opportunity to capture a new and emerging market share in the snack food industry. The use of these by-products adds value to the production, besides contributing to the formulation of new food products and minimizing losses. So, it gives new opportunity to explore the possibilities for the production technologies for the different value added products from pumpkins seeds. This study deals with the review of research work reported on the health and nutritional benefits of pumpkin seeds, whose application can be considered as a good alternative for the nutritional enrichment of food products and could be consumed as food, having a rich source of oil and nutrients