Pumpkin: traditional uses of the flesh and the seeds, and how to prepare them

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Pumpkin is not just a lantern. Its orange flesh cooks down into soup or compote in half an hour, and its flat green seeds have been chewed, roasted and steeped for centuries. This page sets out what the plant actually contains, what herbalism and old kitchen tradition make of the flesh and the seeds, and how to use both at home tonight.

What it is credited with

• Intestinal worms. From the nineteenth century onward, pumpkin seeds were used in European herbalism to help expel tapeworms and other intestinal worms — the best-documented traditional use of the plant.
• Male urinary comfort. Herbalists have long associated green pumpkin seeds with comfort of the male urinary tract in later life, and the seed remains a classic of that repertoire.
• Water balance. Both flesh and green seeds have a reputation as gentle diuretics in naturopathic practice.
• Sluggish digestion. Pumpkin pulp is traditionally regarded as laxative and softening, and was included in old herbal diets for people with irritable digestion or rheumatic complaints.
• Coming off a fast. Naturopathy favours cooked pumpkin as one of the first solid foods after a fast or a light diet, because it is soft, low in fibre once cooked, and easy to digest.
• Soothing the skin. Raw mashed flesh has an emollient reputation and was applied as a cooling poultice to minor scalds and chapped skin in country practice.
• Immune terrain. The beta-carotene in the flesh converts to vitamin A in the body and acts as an antioxidant; tradition credits carotene-rich vegetables with supporting the body’s ordinary defences through the cold season.

How to use it

Soup and mash, the everyday form

• Peel, deseed, cube. Simmer the cubes in a little water or stock for 20 to 25 minutes, until a knife goes through with no resistance.
• Blend smooth. A spoon of cream or olive oil helps the carotene along, since it dissolves in fat, not water.
• Keep the cooking water and blend it in: the minerals go into it.

Pumpkin compote

• Cook the cubes with two or three apples, no added water beyond a splash, lid on, for about 20 minutes.
• Mash roughly, season with cinnamon and a scrape of vanilla. Sweet enough without sugar.
• This is the gentle version herbalists suggest for a queasy stomach or for easing back into eating.

The seeds

• Raw and green: rinse, dry on a cloth, chew a small handful as they are. This is the form tradition uses for the urinary and deworming reputation.
• Roasted: toss with a little oil and salt, spread in one layer, roast in a moderate oven for 12 to 15 minutes, shaking once, until they puff and pop. Roasting costs you some of the oils but makes them addictive.
• Ground to a paste: pound hulled raw seeds in a mortar with a little honey. The old worm remedy was taken on an empty stomach, in the morning, for a few days running.
• Scattered: a spoonful over salad, porridge or soup, added at the table rather than cooked.

The poultice

• Grate or mash a piece of raw flesh, wrap in clean gauze, lay it cool on chapped skin or a small superficial burn for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Use once and discard. Never on broken skin, blisters or anything more than a trivial scald.

Frequently Asked Questions

The one thing to remember: eat the flesh cooked for its provitamin A and its easy digestibility, and keep the raw green seeds — stored airtight — for the uses tradition gives them.

Should I eat pumpkin seeds raw or roasted?

Both work, for different reasons. Raw green seeds are the form herbalism has always used, chewed on an empty stomach or pounded with a little honey. Roasting for 12 to 15 minutes in a moderate oven makes them far tastier as a snack, at the cost of some of their delicate oils.

Which part of the pumpkin is used, the flesh or the seeds?

Both, and they behave quite differently. The flesh is a sweet, low-calorie vegetable exceptionally rich in provitamin A, traditionally seen as softening and gently laxative. The seeds are an oily food rich in magnesium and zinc, and they carry the plant’s herbal reputation for worms and male urinary comfort.

When do I pick pumpkins, and how long will they keep?

Harvest from early autumn until the first frosts, once the leaves yellow and dry and the stalk snaps easily. Stored whole in a ventilated room at around 60 °F (15 °C), a pumpkin holds for six months or more. Cut slices, wrapped, last about a week in the fridge.

Can I eat my Halloween pumpkin afterwards?

No. Once carved and left out, the flesh dries, oxidises and picks up bacteria, and many display pumpkins are varnished or treated. Buy a separate culinary variety for the kitchen and let the lantern be a lantern.

Is pumpkin safe during pregnancy?

Pumpkin as a vegetable — soup, mash, compote, a scattering of seeds — is everyday food. Concentrated seed preparations, seed oil capsules and traditional worming courses are another thing entirely and should be cleared with a healthcare professional first.

Read on

• Read also: how to grow pumpkins.
• Discover: all our recipes to bring out the taste of pumpkins and gourds.
• Tradition: Halloween, where the scary pumpkins first came from.

This information is provided for general interest and reflects the traditional use of plants. It is not a substitute for medical advice. If you are on medication, pregnant, or in any doubt, ask a healthcare professional.