Pumpkin
Parts Usually Used
Seeds and husks
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.
Where Found
Widely cultivated in warm and temperate climates for its fruit.
Medicinal Properties
Anthelmintic
Biochemical Information
Anthelmintic properties, isprenoid compound, high mineral content, and vitamin F
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.
Uses
Historically, herbalists recommended the plant for stomach complaints, intestinal worms, motion sickness, and prostate disorders. The seed oil was traditionally applied to chapped skin, minor wounds, and burns.
How Sold
Supermarkets and health food stores Be sure to specify hulled or unhulled seeds
Bibliography
Pumpkin, Pumpkin:: Folklore, History, Planting Hints and Good Eating by Anne Copeland, Paperback – September 30, 2019. The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 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.
D. and Phyllis A. , 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living , by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Co. (1988). Old Ways Rediscovered , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988 Prairie Smoke , by Melvin R.
Gilmore, Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101, copyright 1987. , West Nyack, NY, 1987. 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. 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. , 1974