Development of value-added products based on Cucurbita spp.

Pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) is a commonly grown vegetable across the world however, due to its underutilization as afood source a significant imbalance between pumpkin production and consumption has been identified. Many?researchers have reported morphological diversity and differences in the nutritional and chemical composition among?the pumpkin species which resulted in a selective distribution of Cucurbita species in different parts of the world. As?evidenced from literature, pumpkin has been identified as a remarkable source of nutrients and reported with highprotein, carbohydrate, vitamins, and especially with high amounts of antioxidants. Despite their nutritional value, postharvest loss associated with pumpkins is significantly high which highlights the importance of utilization of pumpkinsthrough value addition. The value addition of pumpkin has drawn a huge research interest over the past years which?has emphasized the nutritional and chemical composition of pumpkin, especially in the edible (flesh, seeds) and nonedible (peel and pulp) fruits parts and pumpkin flowers in several value additions. This review furnishes an overview?of Cucurbita spp. production and the post-harvest loss associated with pumpkin along with the updated information?about the reported value additions based on existing literature.Contents 1. Introduction2. Pumpkin production2.1. Optimum growth conditions2.2. Global production3. Morphological characteristics 3.1. Vegetative structures3.2. Reproductive structures3.3. Morphological difference among Cucurbita spp.4. Harvesting and post-harvest practices 4.1. Maturity level identification at harvesting4.2. Post-harvest loss and management5. Nutritional and chemical composition6. Potential benefits of pumpkin consumption6.1. Nutritional aspects6.2. Nutraceutical aspects7. Development of value-added products8. Conclusion? SourceOverview of Cucurbita spp. (pumpkin) and development of value-added products?emphasizing its nutritional and chemical compositionK.O.G. Himani Ruwanthika,?M.L.A. Mayuri S. Munasinghe and R.A. Upul J. MarapanaWorld Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2023, 18(02), 1215?1226https://wjarr.com/sites/default/files/WJARR-2023-0938.pdfArticle DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2023.18.2.0938Picture is figure 4 of the original paper - Morphological difference between Cucurbita spp.; Morphological variation observed in (a) their leaf color,?(b) fruit flesh color, (c) fruit shape and (d) fruit skin color. Source: Adapted from Hosen et al. [19]