J. Agr. Sci. Tech. (2011) Vol.

13: 1053-1063
1053
Chemical Composition and Physicochemical Properties of
Pumpkin Seeds (Cucurbita pepo Subsp. pepo Var. Styriaka)
Grown in Iran
A. Gohari Ardabili
1
, R. Farhoosh
1
, and M. H. Haddad Khodaparast
1

ABSTRACT
Chemical composition and physicochemical properties of pumpkin seeds and fatty acids
of their oil were determined. It was found that the seeds contained 41.59% oil and 25.4%
protein. Moisture, crude fiber, total ash, and carbohydrate contents were 5.2%, 5.34%,
2.49%, and 25.19%, respectively. The specific gravity, dynamic viscosity, and refractive
index of the extracted pumpkin seed oil were 0.915, 93.659 cP, and 1.4662, respectively.
Acid value (mg KOH/g oil), peroxide value (meq O
2
/kg oil), iodine value (g I
2
/100 g oil),
saponification number (mg KOH/ g oil), and unsaponifiable matter content (%) of the
extracted oil from pumpkin seeds were 0.78, 0.39, 10.85, 104.36, 190.69, and 5.73,
respectively. Total phenolics compounds (mg gallic acid/kg oil), total tocopherols (mg -
tocopherol/kg oil), total sterols (%), and waxes (%) were 66.27, 882.65, 1.86, and 1.58,
respectively. Specific extinctions at two wavelengths of 232 nm (K
232
) and 270 nm (K
270
)
and R-value (K
232
/K
270
) were 3.80, 3.52 and 0.74, respectively. Gas chromatographic
analysis of the pumpkin seed oil showed that the linoleic (39.84%), oleic (38.42%),
palmitic (10.68%) and stearic (8.67%) acids were the major fatty acids. Compared with
other vegetable oils, the present study revealed that pumpkin seed oil can be a valuable
source of edible oil.
Keywords: Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo var. Styriaca, Fatty acid composition,
Physicochemical properties, Pumpkin seed oil.
_____________________________________________________________________________
1
Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad,
P. O. Box: 91775-1163, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Corresponding author, email: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION
Vegetable oils are essential in meeting
global nutritional demands and are utilized
for many food and other industrial purposes
(Idouraine et al. 1996). Despite the broad
range of sources for vegetable oils, the
world consumption is dominated by
soybean, palm, rapeseed, and sunflower oils
with 31.6, 30.5, 15.5, and 8.6 million tons
consumed per year, respectively (Stevenson
et al., 2007). These conventional sources of
vegetable oil no longer meet the ever
increasing demands of domestic and
industrial sectors (Idouraine et al., 1996).
Therefore, the need exists to look for other
sources to supplement the supplies. From
this view point, non-conventional oilseeds
are of much concern to cope this challenge.
More recently, research activities have
focused on examining and characterizing
new sources of edible oils. Esuoso et al.
(1998) reported that seeds of some species
of Cucurbitaceae can be the edible oil
sources to meet the increasing demands for
vegetable oil.
Pumpkins belong to the family
Cucurbitaceae. The majority of the species
in this family are used as food and are found
in five genera: Citrullus (water melons and
wild colocynths), Cucumis (cucumbers,
gherkins and melons), Lagenaria (gourds),
Sechium (chayotte) and Cucurbita. The
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Gohari Ardabili et al.

1054
genus Cucurbita, which is economically the
most important one, includes five species: C.
maxima, C. pepo, C. moschata, C. ficifolia,
and C. turbaniformis in which C. pepo
exhibits the widest variation, especially with
respect to fruit characteristics (Gemrot et al.,
2006). C. pepo is a native species of North
America and has been cultivated there for
several thousand years (Paris, 1989). It is
claimed that C. pepo is more persistent and
less liable to deterioration, which certainly is
reflected in the quality of the extracted oil
(Markovic and Bastic, 1975). Hull-less or
naked pumpkin seed are widely grows in the
southern regions of Austria (Styria province)
and the adjacent regions in Slovenia and
Hungary (Idouraine et al., 1996). The
pumpkin seed is valued in regard to
nutritional points. Several studies have
reported the chemical composition and oil
characteristics of the pumpkin seed from
different origins and varieties (Lazos 1986;
Stevenson et al., 2007). The four fatty acids
presented in significant quantities are
palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids
(Stevenson et al., 2007). The pumpkin seed
is a good source of potassium, phosphorus
and magnesium, and also contains
moderately high amounts of other trace
minerals (calcium, sodium, manganese, iron,
zinc, and copper) and these elements make
pumpkin seed valuable for food supplements
(Lazos, 1986).
Raw or roasted pumpkin seeds are used as
a snack food for human consumption in
many cultures all over the world. The
kernels of pumpkin seeds have been utilized
as flavor enhancers in gravies and soups,
and used in cooking, baking and ground
meat formulations as a nutrient supplement
and a functional agent (Tsaknis et al., 1997;
El-Adawy and Taha, 2001). The oil of
pumpkin seeds are being used as a cooking
oil in some countries in Africa and the
Middle East, and as a salad oil in the south
of Austria and the adjacent regions in
Slovenia and Hungary (Wenzl et al., 2002).
The pumpkin seeds possess valuable dietary
and medicinal qualities besides being the
source of good-quality edible oils. Pumpkin
seed oil has been used traditionally as
medicine in many countries such as China,
Yugoslavia, Argentina, India, Mexico,
Brazil, and America. It is applied in therapy
of small disorders of the prostate gland and
urinary bladder caused by hyperplasia
(BHP). Pumpkin seed extract has been
reported to have antidiabetic, antitumor,
antibacterial, anticancer, antimutagenic, and
antioxidant activities. It has also been found
to have strong hypotriglyceridemic and
serum cholesterol-lowering effects (Fu et al.,
2006). The health benefits of pumpkin seeds
are attributed to their macro- and micro-
constituent compositions. They are a rich
natural source of proteins, triterpenes,
lignans, phytosterols, polyunsaturated fatty
acids, antioxidative phenolic compounds,
carotenoids, tocopherol, and minerals (Fu et
al., 2006).
Due to the differences among the species
and/or varieties of Cucurbita grown in
different areas of the world, the present
study was undertaken to determine the
composition of whole seed, and
physicochemical properties of the crude oil
of Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo var. Styriaca
grown in Iran.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Materials
The dried pumpkin seeds (C. pepo subsp.
pepo var. Styriaca) were obtained from
Tabriz, Iran. They were stored in a sealed
vessel wrapped with a polyethylene bag at 4
C until analysis and oil extraction. All
chemicals and solvents, and fatty acid methyl
ester (FAME) standards used in this study
were of analytical reagent grade and were
purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany)
and Sigma Aldrich (St. Louis, MO).
Compositional Analysis
The recommended methods of the
Association of Official Analytical Chemists
Pumpkin Seed Characteristics
_________________________________________________
1055
(AOAC, 2005) were used to determine the
chemical composition of the pumpkin seeds
including the contents of moisture, ash,
crude protein, crude fat, and crude fiber. The
moisture content was determined by drying
the seeds in an oven at 105 1C to a
constant weight. Total lipids were
determined by continuous extraction in a
Soxhlet apparatus for 12 h using hexane as
solvent. After evaporation of the solvent, the
oil content was determined gravimetrically.
Ash was determined by incinerating the
sample at 550 C in a muffle furnace. Crude
protein was calculated from the nitrogen
content measured by Kjeldahl method with
Gerhardt model Vat 20 instrument using a
factor 6.25. Crude fiber was determined
according to the gravimetric procedure.
Total carbohydrate was obtained by
subtracting (crude protein + crude fat + ash
+ crude fibre) from 100. The moisture
content was expressed in g/100 g sample and
the other values were reported on dry basis.
All the analyses were performed in
triplicate.
Oil Extraction Procedure
After cleaning and removal of the sand
and foreign materials, the dried pumpkin
seeds were ground to a fine powder using a
grinder (Toos Shekan, Iran). The oil was
extracted with n-hexane (1:4 w/v) by
agitation in a shaker at room temperature in
the dark for 36 h. The solvent was
evaporated in vacuo at 40 C to dryness. The
extracted oil was stored in sealed and dark
bottles under nitrogen gas until analysis.
Physical and Chemical Analysis of the
Extracted Oil
Specific gravity was determined at 30 C
using a 25 ml capacity pycnometer.
Refractive index was measured with an
Abbe refractometer (Atago Co. Ltd, Tokyo,
Japan) equipped with a thermostated
circulator. A glass capillary viscometer
Model A200 (Duran, Mainz, Germany)
calibrated with distilled water was used to
determine dynamic viscosity. Specific
extinctions (E
% 1
cm 1
) at 232 nm (K
232
) and 270
nm (K
270
) were determined according to the
AOCS official method Ch5-91(AOCS 1993)
using a UV-Vis Spectrophotometer (Model
160 A Shimadzu).
Free fatty acid content and acid value were
measured by a titration method defined in
American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS
1993) Official Methods Ca 5a-40 and Cd 3d-
63, respectively. Peroxide value was
determined with the spectrophotometric
method of the International Dairy Federation
(Shantha and Decker, 1994; Farhoosh and
Moosavi, 2009) (thiocyanate method).
Iodine value and saponification number
were determined according to the AOAC
(2005) Official Methods 920.158 (Hanus
method) and 920.160, respectively.
Determination of the unsaponifiable matters
was carried out by the procedure of Lozano
et al. (1993). Determination of the total
phenolics content was done
spectrophotometrically using Folin
Ciocalteaus reagent as described by
Capannesi et al. (2000). A calibration curve
of gallic acid in methanol was performed in
a concentration range of 0.040.40 mg/ml.
Total tocopherols content was determined
according to the colorimetric method
described by Wong et al. (1988). Total
sterols content was quantified according to
the LiebermanBurchard color reaction
(Sabir et al., 2003). LiebermanBurchard
reagent (sulfuric acid and acetic anhydride)
reacts with sterols to produce a characteristic
green color whose absorbance is determined
by spectrophotometry at 640 nm.
Determination of the wax content was
carried out by the procedure of Mezouari et
al. (2006). Briefly, an accurately weighed
quantity of oil (5 g) was put in an
Erlenmeyer flask and five times its volume
of acetone was added. The solution
(oil/acetone) was cooled and kept at 4 C for
24 h to crystallize the waxes. The solid
fraction was filtered on a previously
weighed Whatman No. 1 filter paper, then
dried at 45 C in a vacuum oven, and
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Gohari Ardabili et al.

1056
Table 1. Proximate analysis of the whole
pumpkin seed (Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo
var. Styriaca)
a

Parameter Content (%)
Moisture
Oil
Protein
Ash
Fiber
Carbohydrate
5.20 0.28
41.59 2.71
25.40 0.61
5.34 0.04
2.49 0.11
25.19 3.3
a
Means standard deviation of three
determinations.

weighed to obtain the acetone-insoluble
matter.
Oxidative stability index (OSI) was
measured following the procedure described
by Farhoosh (2007). A Metrohm Rancimat
model 743 (Herisau, Switzerland) was used
for the determination of the OSI of the
extracted oil. Briefly, 3g oil was carefully
weighed into reaction vessels and analysis
was performed at 120 C at an airflow rate
of 15 l/h. The OSI were automatically
recorded and corresponded to the break
point of the plotted curve.
Fatty Acid Composition
Fatty acid composition of the pumpkin
seed oil was determined by injecting the
fatty acid methylesters into a gas-liquid
chromatograph (Hewlett-Packard, Santa
Clarita, USA) equipped with a flame
ionization detector and a BPX 70 capillary
column (60 m 0.22 mm i.d., 0.2 mm film
thickness), using helium as the carrier gas at
a flow rate of 0.7 ml/min. The FAMEs were
prepared by shaking a solution of oil in
hexane (0.3 g in 7 mL) with 7 ml of 2 N
methanolic potassium hydroxide. The
solution was kept at 50-55 C for 15 min.
After shaking, the solution was allowed to
settle for 5 min. The upper layer was
collected for GC analysis after mixing with
some anhydrous sodium sulfate and
filtering. The oven temperature was
maintained at 198 C and those of the
injector and detector at 280 and 250 C,
respectively. Analysis was done in duplicate
and the data was reported as relative area
percentages.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Chemical Composition of Dried
Pumpkin Seeds
The results of chemical composition of the
dried pumpkin seeds are presented in Table 1.
The dried seeds contained 5.2 0.3% of
moisture and they were safe for long period
storage without spoilage, because, generally,
dried pumpkin seeds having this low
moisture content are not highly susceptible to
microorganism attack (Ajayi et al., 2006).
The oil content was found to be 41.6
2.7% (Table 1). This value fell in the range
reported for different species of cucurbita
(9.8-52.1%) and different varieties of C. pepo
(31.2-51.0%) (Stevenson et al., 2007). This
oil content was much lower than that reported
for the European varieties i.e.54.9%,
(Murkovic et al., 1999) and Egyptian
varieties i.e.51.0% (El-Adawy and Taha
2001), and higher than that reported for
African ones i.e.21.9-35.0% (Younis et al.,
2000). It has been claimed that such
differences in the oil content can be attributed
to genetic diversity and climate conditions
(Stevenson et al., 2007). Also, the oil content
of the pumpkin seed in the present study was
found to exceed, or be comparable to, that of
some common edible oils such as cottonseed
(22-24%), safflower (30-35%), soybean (18-
22%), rapeseed (40-48%), and olive (12-
50%) (Nichols and Sanderson, 2003).
Therefore, the pumpkin seed can be
considered as a potential source of vegetable
oil for domestic and industrial purposes.
The protein content (25.4 0.6%) found in
this study (Table 1) was in good agreement
with those indicated by Al-Khalifa (1996) for
C. pepo (26.5%) and C. moschata (24.0%).
The protein content of cucurbit seeds was
shown to be 13.0% for Citrullus lanatus,
16.9% for Lagenaria siceraria (Achu et al.,
Pumpkin Seed Characteristics
_________________________________________________
1057
Table 2. Physicochemical characteristics of the pumpkin seed (Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo var. Styriaca)
oil.
a

Parameter Value
Acid value (mg KOH/g oil)
Free fatty acid content (% as oleic acid)
Peroxide value (meq O
2
/kg oil)
Iodine value (g of I
2
/100 g oil)
Saponification number (mg KOH/g oil)
Unsaponifiable matters content (% of oil)
Total sterol content (% of oil)
Total phenolics content (mg gallic acid/kg oil)
Total tocopherols content (mg -tocopherol/kg oil)
Wax content (% of oil)
Oxidative stability index (OSI) (h)
Specific extinctions at 232 nm (K
232
)
Specific extinctions at 270 nm (K
270
)
R-value (K
232
/ K
270
)
Dynamic viscosity (cP, 30

C)
Specific gravity (30

C)
Refractive index (30

C)
State at room temperature
Color
0.78 0.02
0.39 0.01
10.85 0.62
104.36 0.04
190.69 1.40
5.73 0.82
1.86 0.10
66.27 3.69
882.65 18.32
1.58 0.13
6.57 0.09
4.80 0.22
3.52 0.05
0.74 0.033
93.66 0.48
0.9151 0.0002
1.4662 0.0001
Liquid
Greenish brown
a
Means standard deviation of three determinations.

2005), and 16.0% for Telfairia occidentalis
(Esuoso et al., 1998), which are much lower
than that of our study for C. pepo. However,
some other researchers reported higher
amounts (29-44%) of oil content in C. pepo
and other species (Idouraine et al., 1996;
Achu et al., 2005). These differences may be
caused by the species variations and
environmental conditions. In addition, the
protein content of the pumpkin seed from our
study was higher than those of other oilseeds,
e.g. cashew nuts (22.8%), cottonseed
(21.9%), and sesame (18.7%), and that of
animal proteins (16.0-18.0%) such as lamb,
fish, and beef (Ajayi et al., 2006). Overall,
the pumpkin seeds are considered to be rich
in protein. The protein content of the
pumpkin seed suggests that it can contribute
to the daily protein need of 23.6 g/100 g for
adults as recommended by some authorities
(Ajayi et al., 2006).
Total carbohydrate content was calculated
to be 25.2 3.3 % of the dry matter (Table
1). This value was much higher than 5.6%
reported by Lazos (1986) for pumpkin. In
addition, it was the same as the total
carbohydrate content of cashew nuts
(26.2%) and sesame (26.0%) (Achu et al.,
2005). Total ash content (5.3 0.0%) was
close to that obtained by some researchers
(Idouraine et al., 1996; Alfawaz 2004) for C.
maxima and C. pepo but higher than the
others (Al-Khalifa 1996; Younis et al.,
2000). Ash content determination is
important because it is an index of the
quality of feeding materials used by animal
feed producers for poultry and cattle feeding
(Esuoso et al., 1998). Crud fiber content (2.5
0.1%) was low compared to 12.1% for C.
pepo and C. maxima (Lazos 1986) and 9.3%
for T. occidentalis (Esouso et al., 1998). The
low level of crude fiber can probably be due
to the use of dehulled seed samples.
Physicochemical Characterization of
Pumpkin Seed Oil
Physicochemical properties of the
pumpkin seed oil are shown in Table 2.
Physical properties of lipids derive directly
from their chemical structures and functional
groups and greatly influence the functions of
lipids in foods and the methods required for
________________________________________________________________
Gohari Ardabili et al.

1058
their manipulation and processing. They can
also be used to assess the purity or quality of
lipid material in reference to known
standards or preferred characteristics
(Nichols and Sanderson, 2003). The
pumpkin seed oil was greenish brown in
color with nut-like taste. It was liquid at
room temperature and even in a refrigerator.
Specific gravity (0.915 0.0002) of the oil
fell in the reported range of 0.903-0.926
(Nichols and Sanderson, 2003) and was well
comparable with the value of 0.9159
(Markovic and Bastic, 1975) for C. pepo.
This value also fell in the range reported for
olive (0.910-0.920), coconut (0.908-0.921),
rapeseed (0.910-0.920), and canola (0.914-
0.920) oils (Nichols and Sanderson, 2003).
Refractive index is used by most
processors to measure the change in
unsaturation as the fat or oil is
hydrogenated. The refractive index of oils
depends on their molecular weight, fatty
acid chain length, degree of unsaturation,
and degree of conjugation (Nichols and
Sanderson, 2003). The pumpkin seed oil
showed a refractive index of 1.4662
0.0001, which was similar to those reported
by Lazos (1986) for pumpkin (1.4616) and
melon (1.4662) seed oils (Table 2). This
value that fell in the range reported for the
pumpkin seed oils (1.466-1.474) was lower
than the range reported for sunflower and
olive oils; higher than that for palm, palm
kernel and coconut oils; and within the range
reported for canola, rapeseed and corn oils
(Nichols and Sanderson, 2003). Pure oils
have marked ranges of refractive index and
density; thus, the degree of variation of a
typical oil from its true values may indicate
its relative purity.
The viscosity measured in the present
work (93.659 0.48 cP, Table 2) was higher
than those reported by Tsaknis et al.(1997)
for C. maxima and C. pepo (72 cP) and that
reported by Alfawaz (2004) for C. maxima
(48.09 cP). Oomaha et al. (2000) reported a
value of 26.0, 47.3 and 49.4 cP for
raspberry, safflower, and grape seed oils,
respectively. Viscosity is an important
parameter for the design of industrial
processes. It can also be used to evaluate the
quality of fats and oils used in frying
(Nichols and Sanderson, 2003).
Spectrophotometric measurements are
widely used in quality assessments. The K
232

is usually considered as an indicator of the
oil autoxidation and has been well correlated
with peroxide value, but the K
270
is a more
useful quantity that measures the presence of
conjugated dienes and trienes. Furthermore,
both measurements have been used to
determine the addition of an oil to pure ones
(Ogutcu et al., 2008). As can be seen in
Table 2, the K
232
, K
270,
and R-value
(K
232
/K
270
) of pumpkin seed oil were 4.80
0.22, 3.52 0.05, and 0.74 0.033,
respectively. There are few published data
on the K
232
and K
270
for Cucurbita species
and C. pepo. Markovic and Bastic (1975)
found that oils with the same peroxide
values show different specific extinctions
and the pumpkin seed oil had specific
extinctions considerably higher than those of
other vegetable oils at both wavelengths.
The K
232
, K
270
, and R-value for the pumpkin
seed oil were lower than those reported by
Markovic and Bastic (1975) i.e.6.17-9.00,
1.73-4.42, 1.34-3.7, respectively, and
Tsaknis et al. (1997) i.e.6.32, 3.93, 1.61,
respectively. At the same peroxide value, the
K
232
and K
270
for sunflower, olive, and the
pumpkin seed oils were reported to be 4.93
and 0.51, 3.32 and 0.65, and 8.88 and 1.99,
respectively (Markovic and Bastic, 1975).
Considering the content of free fatty acids
(0.39 0.01 % as oleic acid), acid value
(0.78 0.02 mg KOH/g oil) and peroxide
value (10.85 0.62 meq O
2
/kg oil) (Table
2), the extracted pumpkin seed oil had an
acceptable initial quality. The Codex
Alimentarius Commission expressed the
permitted maximum acid values of 10 and 4
mg KOH/g oil for virgin palm and coconut
oils, respectively (Alfawaz, 2004). It has
been shown that oils become rancid when
the peroxide value ranges from 20.0 to 40.0
meq O
2
/kg oil (Ajayi et al., 2006). On the
other hand, according to the Codex
Alimentarius Commission, the peroxide
value for unrefined olive oil may be
Pumpkin Seed Characteristics
_________________________________________________
1059
maximum 20 meq/kg oil (Markovic and
Bastic, 1975). Therefore, considering that
the oil studied was unrefined and its initial
quality indicators were within the reported
limits, the pumpkin seed oil can be regarded
as an edible oil with good quality.
The pumpkin seed oil had an iodine value
of 104.4 0.0 (Table 2), indicating a high
degree of unsaturation. This value was close
to 103.2, 107.0, and 105.1 reported by,
respectively, Lazos (1986), Tsaknis et al.
(1997), and Alfawaz (2004), but higher than
80.0 that was indicated by Esuoso et al.
(1998), and lower than 123.0 of Younis et
al. (2000) and 116.0-133.4 of Markovic and
Bastic (1975) for Cucurbita species. It also
lied within the range reported for cottonseed,
canola, rapeseed, and corn oils (Nichols and
Sanderson, 2003).
Saponification number (SN) is an indicator
of the average molecular weight and, hence,
chain length. It is inversely proportional to
the molecular weight of the lipid. The SN of
the examined oil was190.7 1.4 mg KOH/g
oil (Table 2) and fell in the 174-197 range
reported for the pumpkin seed oils (Nichols
and Sanderson, 2003). This value indicated
that the pumpkin seed oil had fatty acids
with higher number of carbon atoms in
comparison with coconut (248265) and
palm kernel (230254) oils (Nichols and
Sanderson, 2003). This result was in good
agreement with the 185.5-195.3 range of
Markovic and Bastic (1975), however, it
was lower than 200-218 range reported by
Al-Khalifa (1996), 206 of El-Adawy and
Taha (2001) and 201 of Tsaknis et al. (1997)
and was higher than 132.3 reported by
Younis et al. (2000) for Cucurbita species.
Furthermore, it fell in the range reported for
olive, canola, corn, and sunflower oils
(Nichols and Sanderson, 2003).
Unsaponifiable matters in the vegetable
oils are a variety of nonglyceridic bioactive
substances containing variable mixture of
hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols,
sterols, pigments, and fat-soluble vitamins
that may occur naturally or may be formed
during processing or degradation of oils
(Badifu, 1991). The content of
unsaponifiable matters (5.7 0.8%) in the
oil experimented (Table 2) was much higher
than the values reported in the literature (Al-
Khalifa, 1996; Esuoso et al., 1998) for the
pumpkin seed oil, but it was in a close
agreement with the 3-7% range reported by
Anwar et al. (2005) for rice bran oil. The
sterol content was found to be 1.9 0.1% of
the oil. In contrast to the other vegetable oils
with 5-sterols ( -sitosterol, campesterol
and stigmasterol) as the major components,
Wenzl et al. (2002) showed that the
pumpkin seed oil contains specific 7-
phytosterols that provide fingerprint for
detection of adulteration. These 7-sterols
are supposed to give the pumpkin seed oil a
beneficial effect in the treatment and
prophylaxis of disorders of the prostate
gland and the urinary bladder (Nakic et al.,
2006). Hence, more detailed examinations of
the composition of the sterol fraction of this
oil will be of special interest.
Recently, there has been an increasing
interest in studying phenolic compounds
from oilseeds, because they represent
potentially health-promoting substances and
have industrial applications (Pericin et al.,
2009). These naturally occurring compounds
have proven to possess important role in the
stability and sensory and nutritional
characteristics of the product and may
prevent deterioration through quenching of
radical reactions responsible for lipid
oxidation (Siger et al., 2008). Total
phenolics content of the extracted oil was
found to be 66.7 3.7 mg gallic acid/kg oil
(Table 2). Total phenolics content differs
from one oil to another. Wide ranges have
been reported (50-1000 mg/kg), but the
values are usually between 100 and
300 mg/kg. Cultivar, extraction system, and
the conditions of processing and storage are
critical factors for the content of phenolic
compounds (Boskou, 2006). Tocopherol
homologues are phenolic antioxidants that
occur naturally in vegetable oils and provide
some protection against oxidation by
terminating free radicals. The determination
of tocopherol homologues in the kernel oils
is important owing to their antioxidative
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Gohari Ardabili et al.

1060
Table 3. Fatty acid composition of the pumpkin seed (Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo var. Styriaca) oil.
a

Fatty acid Content (%)
Palmitic (C16:0)
Palmitoleic (C16:1)
Stearic (C18:0)
Oleic (C18:1)
Linoleic (C18:2)
Linolenic (C18:3)
Gadoleic (C20:1)
Total saturated fatty acids
Total unsaturated fatty acids
10.68 0.42
0.58 0.14
8.67 0.27
38.42 0.37
39.84 0.08
0.68 0.14
1.14 0.00
19.35 0.16
80.65 0.16
a
Means of duplicate determinations.

effects and their positive nutritional
influences in human metabolism as
biological antioxidants (Yoshida et al.,
2006). As shown in Table 2, the pumpkin
seed oil had a high level of total tocopherols
(882.7 18.3 mg -tocopherol/kg oil),
which would be expected to contribute good
oxidative stability of the oil during storage
and processing. The total tocopherols
content in the pumpkin seed oil we studied
was considerably higher than that reported
in the literature (Tsaknis et al., 1997, Nakic
et al., 2006).
The pumpkin seed oil had a wax content
of 1.58 0.13% (Table 2) that was less than
the reported range (3-4%) for rice bran oil.
Waxes are high-melting-point esters of long-
chain carboxylic acids and long-chain
alcohols. They are removed from crude oils
by a dewaxing step during the refining
process to clarify the oil. They have
potential applications in cosmetics,
pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, polymers,
lubricants, and leather industries (Vali et al.,
2005).
The oil oxidative stability index (OSI) is a
criterion of oxidative stability of the oils and
fats defined as the hours for an oil sample to
develop a measurable rancidity. The OSI of
the pumpkin seed oil examined in this study
was 6.57 0.09 h. Tsaknis et al. (1997)
reported the OSIs of 5.55, 7.22, and 3.40 h
(120

C, 20 l/h) for the pumpkin seed, olive,
and sunflower oils, respectively. In a
previous study on rice bran oil, the OSI (120

C, 20 l/h) ranged from 5.99 to 7.40 h
(Anwar et al., 2005).
Analysis of Fatty Acids of Pumpkin Seed
Oil
Data of fatty acid composition of the
pumpkin seed oil, which can be used to
evaluate its stability and nutritional quality,
is shown in Table 3. A higher degree of oil
unsaturation makes it more susceptible to
oxidative deterioration. On the other hand,
there are considerable data to recommend a
reduction in saturated and a moderate
increase in monounsaturated and n-3 and n-6
polyunsaturated fatty acids in human
nutrition in order to prevent coronary heart
disease and other diseases (Nakic et al.,
2006). The composition of fatty acids varies
depending on several factors including
variety, growing area, climate and ripeness
(Murkovic et al., 1999). As can be seen in
Table 3, four major fatty acids, namely,
linoleic, oleic, palmitic, and stearic, were
found in the pumpkin seed oil and they
constituted more than 97% of the total
amount. This fatty acid profile is confirmed
by several authors (Markovic and Bastic,
1975; Murkovic et al., 1999; Nakic et al.,
2006). The pumpkin seed oil contained
19.4% saturated fatty acids, with the major
one being palmitic acid (10.7%) followed by
stearic acid (7.7%), while it was high in
unsaturated fatty acids with a total content of
80.7%. This total content of the unsaturated
fatty acids was similar to that of the other
studies on C. pepo and all pumpkin species
in Cucurbitaceae (Stevenson et al., 2007).
The main unsaturated fatty acids were
linoleic acid followed by oleic acid with
concentrations of 39.8 and 38.4 %,
Pumpkin Seed Characteristics
_________________________________________________
1061
respectively. In most other investigations on
the fatty acid composition of C. pepo
(Lazos, 1986; Al-Adawy and Taha, 2001),
the percentage of linoleic acid was higher
(43.1-55.6%) than that of oleic acid (20.4-
37.8%), while, in the present study, the
percentages of linoleic and oleic acids were
almost the same (39.84 and 38.42%,
respectively). Despite the high content of
total unsaturated fatty acids in the pumpkin
seed oil, linolenic acid was very low (0.7%),
which was in good agreement with all other
similar studies. Also, the level of other fatty
acids in the pumpkin seed oil was very low,
similar to the results reported in the
literature (Stevenson et al. 2007).
CONCLUSION
Our results in this study showed that
pumpkin seed was rich in oil and protein
and, considering its fatty acid profile, it lies
in linoleic-oleic group such as cottonseed,
corn, sesame, sunflower, and soybean oils.
With a high yield of oil and physicochemical
characteristics similar to those of the other
commercial edible oils, the pumpkin seed oil
can be considered as a new and valuable
source of edible oil.
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Pumpkin Seed Characteristics
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1063
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