A squash is a squash cultivar, the most common of Cucurbita pepo, which is round, with smooth, slightly streaked, and yellow to orange. The thick shell contains seeds and dregs. Some extraordinary pumpkin cultivars with similar appearance also come from Cucurbita maxima .
Specific cultivars of winter squash come from other species, including C. argyrosperma, and C. moschata, sometimes also called "gourds".
In New Zealand and Australian English, the term pumpkin generally refers to a broader category called winter squash elsewhere.
Native to North America, pumpkins are widely grown for commercial use and are used in both food and recreation. Pumpkin pie, for example, is a traditional part of Thanksgiving food in Canada and the United States, and pumpkins are often carved as jack-o'-lanterns for decoration around Halloween, though canned pumpkin pies and canned pumpkin pies are usually made from different winter pumpkin types from those used for jack-o'-lanterns.
Video Pumpkin
Etymology and terminology
The word pumpkin comes from the word pepon (?????), which is Greek for "big melon", something big and round. The French adapted this word to
pompon, which was changed by the British to pion and then the then American colony became known as the pumpkin .
The terms pumpkin are not agreed upon in a botanical or scientific sense, and are used interchangeably with "pumpkins" and "winter squash" in some areas. In many areas, including North America and the United Kingdom, pumpkins traditionally refer only to certain types of round oranges, oranges from winter, mostly from Cucurbita pepo, Australian English, pumpkin can refer to the winter squash of any appearance.
Maps Pumpkin
Description
Pumpkin, like other pumpkins, is thought to be from North America. The oldest evidence, pumpkin seeds dating from 7000 and 5500 BC, is found in Mexico.
Since some pumpkins share the same botanical classification with pumpkin, the names are often used interchangeably. One commonly used botanical classification depends on the characteristics of the stem: the stems are more rigid, thorny, and angled (with a five-degree angle approximate) than the pumpkin stalk, which is generally softer, more rounded, and more flared where it joins into the fruit. Pumpkin fruit is a kind of botanical berry known as pepo.
Traditional C. pepo pumpkins generally weigh between 3 and 8 kilograms (6 and 18 pounds), although the largest cultivars (of the species C. maxima ) regularly achieve more weight than 34 kg (75 pounds).
The color of the pumpkin comes from orange carotenoid pigments, including beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha and beta carotene, all of which are provitamin A compounds that are converted into vitamin A in the body.
Taxonomy
All pumpkins are winter squash: ripe fruits of a particular species in the genus Cucurbita . Characteristics commonly used to define "gourds" include smooth and slightly lined, and yellow to orange. Around 2005, the white pumpkin has become increasingly popular in the United States. Other colors, including dark green (as with some oil seed pumpkins), also exist.
Cultivation
Pumpkin is grown worldwide for a variety of reasons ranging from agricultural purposes (such as animal feed) to commercial and ornamental sales. Of the seven continents, only Antarctica can not produce pumpkins; the largest international manufacturer of pumpkins including the United States, Canada, Mexico, India and China. The traditional American pumpkins used for jack-o-lanterns are Connecticut Field varieties.
In the United States
As one of the most popular plants in the United States, 680,000,000 kilograms (1.5 billion pounds) of pumpkin is produced every year. Top pumpkin producing countries include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California.
According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, 95% of US crops intended for processing are planted in Illinois. Nestlà ©  ©, operating under the Libby's brand name, produces 85% processed pumpkin in the United States, at their factory in Morton, Illinois. In the fall of 2009, rain in Illinois destroyed Nestlà ©  © plants, resulting in shortages affecting the entire country during the Thanksgiving holiday season.
Pumpkin is a warm weather plant that is usually grown in early July. The specific conditions required to plant a pumpkin require a soil temperature of 8 cm (3 inches) at least 15.5 Â ° C (60 Â ° F) and ground that holds water well. Pumpy plants can suffer if there is water shortage or because of cold temperatures (in this case, below 18 ° C or 65 ° F), and sandy soil with poor water retention or non-drained soil. getting soaked after heavy rain. Nevertheless, the pumpkin is rather hard, and even if many leaves and parts of the vines are removed or damaged, the plant can quickly regrow the secondary vines to replace what has been removed.
Pumpkins produce male and female flowers; honey bees play an important role in conception. Pumpkin has historically been pollinated by the original pumpkin bee Peponapis pruinosa , but these bees have been declining, perhaps at least partly for the sensitivity of pesticides (imidacloprid), and today most commercial plants are pollinated by honeybees. One nest per acre (4,000 m 2 per hive, or 5 nests per 2 hectares) recommended by the US Department of Agriculture. If there are insufficient bees to pollinate, gardeners often have to do pollination. Unsubsed flower usually begins to grow but fails before full development.
Giant Pump
The "giant pumpkin" is a large pumpkin (in the usual group of pumpkins Cucurbita maxima ) that can exceed 1 ton of weight. This variety emerged from a large South American flask through the efforts of botany communities and peasant farmers.
See #Hacker and competition below.
Nutrition
In the amount of 100 grams, the raw flask provides 110 kilojoules (26 kilocalories) of food energy and is an excellent source (20% or more Daily Value, DV) of provitamin A beta-carotene and vitamin A (53% DV) (table). Vitamin C is present in the medium content (11% DV), but no other nutrients in significant amount (less than 10% DV, table). Pumpkin is 92% water, 6.5% carbohydrate, 0.1% fat and 1% protein (table).
Usage
Cooking
Pumpkin is very versatile in its use for cooking. Most of the pumpkin can be eaten, including fleshy skin, seeds, leaves, and even flowers. In the United States and Canada, pumpkins are a popular Halloween and Thanksgiving ingredient. Pumpkin purà © sometimes prepared and frozen for later use.
When cooked, the pumpkin can be boiled, steamed, or roasted. In their home country, North America, this is a very important traditional part of the fall harvest, eaten with mashed and made into soup and puree. Often, made into cakes, various types that are a traditional staple of the Canadian and American Thanksgiving holidays. In Canada, Mexico, the United States, Europe, and China, the seeds are often roasted and eaten as a snack.
Pumpkins are still small and green can be eaten in the same way as pumpkin or zucchini. In the Middle East, pumpkins are used for sweet dishes; the famous sweet delicacy is called halawa yaqtin . In South Asian countries like India, pumpkins are cooked with butter, sugar, and spices in a dish called kadu ka halwa . Pumpkin is used to make sambar in Udupi cuisine. In Guangxi province, China, pumpkin leaves are consumed as cooked vegetables or in soups. In Australia and New Zealand, pumpkins are often roasted along with other vegetables. In Japan, small pumpkins are served in savory dishes, including tempura. In Myanmar, pumpkins are used both in cooking and dessert (sweets). Seeds are a popular substitute for sunflower seeds. In Thailand, the small pumpkin is steamed with pudding inside and served as a dessert. In Vietnam, pumpkins are generally cooked in soup with pork or shrimp. In Italy, it can be used with cheese as a savory stuffing for ravioli. Also, pumpkins can be used to spice up alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
In the southwestern United States and Mexico, pumpkin and pumpkin flowers are a popular and widely available food. They can be used to decorate the dish, and they may be dredged in the dough then fried with oil. Pumpkin Leaf is a popular vegetable in Western and Central Kenya; they are called seveve , and are the ingredients of mukimo , respectively, whereas the pumpkin itself is usually boiled or steamed. The seed is very popular with children who roast it on a pot before eating it. Pumpkin leaves are also eaten in Zambia, where they are called chibwabwa and are boiled and cooked with peanut paste as a side dish.
In addition to the traditional pumpkin, the "pumpkin" pumpkin puree and apple pie pie can contain other winter squash, such as butternut squash.
Leaves
The pumpkin leaf, usually from C. moschata variety, is eaten as a vegetable in Korean cuisine.
Seeds
Pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas , are edible and rich in nutrients. They have a length of about 1.5 cm (0.5 inches), flat, asymmetrical, light green and are usually covered by whites, although some varieties of pumpkin produce seeds without them. Pumpkin seeds are a popular snack that can be found hulled or skinned in most grocery stores. Each serving, pumpkin seed is a good source of protein, magnesium, copper, and zinc.
Pumpkin seed oil
Pumpkin seed oil, thick oil pressed from roasted pumpkin seeds, appears red or green in color depending on the thickness of the oil layer, the nature of the container and the observer's vision shift. When used for cooking or as salad dressing, pumpkin seed oil is commonly mixed with other oils because of its strong taste. Used for cooking in central and eastern Europe, it is considered a traditional local specialty such as pumpkin soup, potato salad or even vanilla ice cream. Pumpkin seed oil contains fatty acids, such as oleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid.
Other uses
Canned pumpkins are often recommended by veterinarians as dietary supplements for dogs and cats that have certain digestive diseases such as constipation, diarrhea, or hair balls. High fiber content helps with proper digestion.
Raw pumpkins can be fed to poultry, as supplements for regular feed, over the winter to help maintain egg production, which usually decreases during the cold months.
Pumpkin has been used as a traditional medicine by Native Americans to treat intestinal worms and urinary diseases, and this Native American medicine was adopted by American doctors in the early nineteenth century as a worm medicine for the expulsion of worms. In Germany and southeastern Europe, the seeds of C. pepo are also used as traditional remedies to treat bladder irritation and benign prostatic hyperplasia. In China, C. moschata seeds are also used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of schistosomiasis parasitic diseases and for the expulsion of tapeworms. Chinese research has found that the combination of pumpkin seeds and betel nut extracts is effective in expulsing tapeworms in about 89% of cases.
Culture
Halloween
Pumpkin is generally carved into decorative lanterns called jack-o'-lanterns for the Halloween season in North America. Throughout England and Ireland, there is a long tradition of engraving lanterns from vegetables, especially rapeseed, mangelwurzel, or Swedish. The practice of pumping pumpkins for Halloween comes from an Irish myth about a man named "Stingy Jack". Radishes have traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland on Halloween, but immigrants to North America use genuine flasks, which are readily available and much larger - making them easier to carve than radishes. Not until 1837, did the jack-o'-lantern appear as a term for vegetable-lantern lanterns, and the lantern pumpkin engraved association with Halloween was recorded in 1866.
In the United States, the first carved flasks were associated with the harvest season in general, long before it became a Halloween symbol. In 1900, an entertaining Thanksgiving article recommended jack-o'-lantern as part of a celebration that encouraged children and families to join together to create their own jack-o'-lanterns.
The pumpkin association with harvest time and pumpkin pie in Canadian and American Thanksgiving strengthens its iconic role. Starbucks transformed this association into marketing with a latte spice flask, introduced in 2003. This has resulted in tremendous trends in seasonal spinach and spice food products in North America. This is despite the fact that North Americans seldom buy whole pumpkins to eat other than when carving jack-o'-lanterns. The Illinois farmer Sarah Frey is called "Queen of the Pumpkin of America" ​​and sells about five million pumpkins per year, mainly for use as a lantern.
Chunking
Pumpkin chunking is a competitive activity in which teams build a variety of mechanical devices designed to dispose of pumpkins as far as possible. Catapults, trebuchet, ballistas and air cannon are the most common mechanisms. Some pumpkin chunks breed and plant special varieties of pumpkins under special conditions to increase the likelihood of survival pumpkins.
Pumpkin Festival and Competition
"Giant Pumpkins" is an orange variant of a giant pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima . These "pumpkin" growers often compete to see which pumpkins are the most massive. The festival is often dedicated to pumpkin and this competition.
The record for the world's heaviest pumpkin, 1,190.5 kg (2,624.6 pounds), was established in Belgium in 2016.
In the United States, the city of Half Moon Bay, California, hosts an annual Arts and Pump Festival, including World Champion Pumpkin Weighing.
Folklore and fiction
There is a strong connection in folklore and popular culture between pumpkin and the supernatural. Notable examples include the following:
Folklore
- The general motive of a person turned into a pumpkin by a witch.
- The custom jack-o-lantern discussed above, which links to Halloween knowledge about warding off demons.
- In the Cinderella folklore, the fairy godmother turns the pumpkin into a carriage, but at midnight it turns into a pumpkin.
Fiction
- Linus's belief in Big Pump in the comic strip Charles M. Schulz Peanut .
- The juice from the pumpkin has a magical effect in the short story "Pumpkin Juice" by R. L. Stine.
- In Harry Potter's novel , pumpkin juice, favorite drink of the Hogwart School of Witchcraft and Wizarding, is a recurring element.
- Pumpkin was thrown by "Headless Rider" in Washington Irving The Legend of Sleepy Hollow .
- Jack Pumpkinhead, a character in the books of Oz L. Frank Baum, with a flask to head on a wooden body, brought to life in the second book.
- In Tim Burton The Nightmare Before Christmas, The main character, Jack Skellington, is "King of Pumpkin."
- Precious Ramotswe, the fictional detective from Botswana in the Novel Detective Women's Detective Series No. 108 1 from the novel by Scottish writer Alexander McCall Smith, often cooking and eating pumpkin.
- In a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Feathertop of 1852, a magician transformed a scarecrow with a "yellow pumpkin" into a man.
- Spider-Man Criminals Green Goblin and Hobgoblin use a small "petrified bomb" as a "signature weapon".
See also
- List of culinary fruits
- List of pumpkin varieties grown in the United States
References
Further reading
- Ott, Cindy (2012). Pumpkin: The Curious History of the American Icons . Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN: 0-295-99195-X.
External links
- Media related to Pumpkins in Wikimedia Commons
- Pumpkins at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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