Cucurbita plants: From farm to industry

Bahare Salehi, Javad Sharifi-Rad*, Esra Capanoglu, Nabil Adrar, Gizem Catalkaya, Shabnum Shaheen, Mehwish Jaffer, Lalit Giri, Renu Suyal, Arun K. Jugran, Daniela Calina, Anca Oana Docea, Senem Kamiloglu, Dorota Kregiel, Hubert Antolak, Ewelina Pawlikowska, Surjit Sen, Krishnendu Acharya, Moein Bashiry, Zeliha SelamogluMiquel Martorell, Farukh Sharopov, Natália Martins, Jacek Namiesnik, William C. Cho

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

77 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Cucurbita genus, a member of Cucurbitaceae family, also known as cucurbits, is native to the Americas. Genus members, like Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita maxima, have been used for centuries in folk medicine for treating gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal parasites. These pharmacological effects are mainly attributed to their phytochemical composition. Indeed, Cucurbita species are a natural source of carotenoids, tocopherols, phenols, terpenoids, saponins, sterols, fatty acids, functional carbohydrates, and polysaccharides, that beyond exerting remarkable biological effects, have also been increasingly exploited for biotechnological applications. In this article, we specifically cover the habitat, cultivation, phytochemical composition, and food preservative abilities of Cucurbita plants.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3387
JournalApplied Sciences (Switzerland)
Volume9
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors.

Keywords

  • Cucurbita plants
  • Cucurbits
  • Food industry
  • Phytochemical composition
  • Pumpkin

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