Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a gourd of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae. It can refer to either species Cucurbita pepo or Cucurbita mixta, or possibly to a specific variety of either the species Cucurbita maxima or Cucurbita moschata.

Description
Since some squash share the same botanical classifications as pumpkins, the names are frequently used interchangeably. In general, pumpkins have stems which are firmer, ridgid, pricker, have +/- a 5 degree angle, and squarer in shape than squash stems which are generally softer, more rounded, and more flared where joined to the fruit.

Pumpkins generally weigh 9–18 lbs (4–8 kg) with the largest (of the species c. maxima) capable of reaching over 75 lbs (34 kg). The pumpkin varies greatly in shape, ranging from oblate through oblong. The rind is smooth and usually lightly ribbed. Although pumpkins are usually orange or yellow, some fruits are dark green, pale green, orange-yellow, white, red and gray.

Pumpkins are angiosperms, having both male and female flowers, the latter distinguished by the small ovary at the base of the petals. These bright and colorful flowers have extremely short life spans, and may only open for as short a time as one day. Their orange color is due to containing massive amounts of lutein, alpha- and beta-carotene. These nutrients turn to vitamin A in the body.

Taxonomy
Pumpkin is a fruit of the species Cucurbita pepo or Cucurbita mixta. It can refer to a specific variety of the species Cucurbita maxima or Cucurbita moschata, which are all of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae.

In Korea and Japan, the word translating to "pumpkin" is a slang term for an unattractive woman. In the American South and Midwest, however, the term "pumpkin" is sometimes used as an endearment.

Distribution and Habitation
Although native to the Western hemisphere, pumpkins are cultivated in North America, continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India and some other countries. The pumpkin is the state fruit of New Hampshire.

Cultivation in the US
Pumpkins have historically been pollinated by the native squash bee Peponapis pruinosa, but this bee has declined, probably due to pesticide sensitivity, and today most commercial plantings are pollinated by honeybees. One hive per acre (4,000 m² per hive) is recommended by the United States of America (US) Department of Agriculture. If there are inadequate bees for pollination, gardeners often have to hand pollinate. Inadequately pollinated pumpkins usually start growing but abort before full development. An opportunistic fungus is also sometimes blamed for abortions.

Giant Pumpkins
Pumpkins are capable of growing extremely large with the proper attention and care. The world record pumpkin weighs 1689 lbs. The 2007 record pumpkin was grown in Rhode Island and weighed at the Topsfield Fair GPC in Topsfield, Massachusetts. The growth of enormous pumpkins being cultivated by hybridizing their seeds.

The largest pumpkins are Cucurbita maxima. They were culminated from the hubbard squash genotype, crossed with kabocha-pumpkin types by enthusiast farmers through intermittent effort since the early 1800s. As such germplasm is commercially provocative, a U.S. legal right was granted for the rounder phenotypes, levying them as constituting a variety, with the appellation "Atlantic Giant." Processually this phenotype graduated back into the public domain, except now it had the name Atlantic Giant on its record (see USDA PVP # 8500204).

Cooking
When ripe, the pumpkin is very versatile. It can be boiled, baked, or roasted. Often, it is made into various kinds of pie which is a traditional staple of the Canadian and American Thanksgiving holiday. Pumpkins that are still small and green may be eaten in the same way as the vegetable marrow/zucchini. Pumpkins can also be eaten mashed or incorporated into soup. If milk is poured into a pumpkin and then the pumpkin is baked, it can be made into a pudding. In the Middle East, pumpkin is used for sweet dishes; a well-known sweet delicacy is called halawa yaqtin. In South Asian countries like India, pumpkin is cooked with butter, sugar, and spices; this dish is called kadu ka halwa. In Australia, pumpkin is often roasted in conjunction with other vegetables. In Japan, small pumpkins are served in savory dishes, including tempura. In Thailand, small pumpkins are steamed with custard inside and served as a dessert. Finally, pumpkin can be used to flavor both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages.

Pumpkin seeds
The hulled or semi-hulled seeds of pumpkins can be roasted and eaten as a snack, similar to the sunflower seed. Pumpkin seeds can be prepared for eating by first separating them from the orange pumpkin flesh, then coating them in a generally salty sauce (Worcestershire sauce, for example), after which the seeds are distributed upon a baking sheet, and then cooked in an oven at a relatively low temperature for a long period of time.

Pumpkin seeds are a good source of iron, zinc, essential fatty acids, potassium, and magnesium. Pumpkin seeds may also promote prostate health since components in pumpkin seed oil appear to interrupt the triggering of prostate cell multiplication by testosterone and DHT. Removing the white hull of the pumpkin seed reveals an edible, green-colored seed inside that is commonly referred to as a pepita in North and South America.

One gram of pumpkin seed protein contains as much tryptophan as a full glass of milk. Multiplying the number of fruiting sections in a field pumpkin (C. pepo variety) by 16 gives roughly the number of seeds in the pumpkin (give or take 10 or so). Guessing the number of seeds in the pumpkin is a game sometimes played by children.

Austria is a well-known producer of pumpkin seed oil.

Halloween
Using pumpkins as lanterns during Halloween is based on an ancient Celtic custom brought to America by Irish immigrants. All Hallows Even was celebrated on 31 October and marked the New Year of the Celtic calendar year and the Festival of Samhain. On that night hollowed-out turnips, beets and rutabagas with candles inside them were placed on windowsills and porches to welcome home the spirits of deceased ancestors and ward off evil spirits and a restless soul called "Stingy Jack," hence the name "Jack-o-lantern".

On Halloween night, Linus Van Pelt of the comic strip Peanuts waits in a pumpkin patch for "the Great Pumpkin", a fictional pumpkin which had many of Santa Claus's characteristics. It seems, however, to exist only in his imagination.

Chucking
Pumpkin chucking is a competitive activity in which teams build various mechanical devices designed to throw a pumpkin as far as possible. Catapults, trebuchets, ballistas and air cannons are the most common mechanisms. Some pumpkin chuckers breed and grow special varieties of pumpkin under specialized conditions in order to improve the pumpkin's chances of surviving a throw.

Pumpkin festivals and competitions
Pumpkin growers often compete to see whose pumpkins are the most massive. Festivals are often dedicated to the pumpkin and these competitions.

Circleville, Ohio, holds a big festival each year, the Circleville Pumpkin Show. Half Moon Bay, California, holds the annual Pumpkin and Arts Festival, drawing over 250,000 visitors each year and including the World Champion Pumpkin Weigh-Off. Farmers from all over the west compete to determine who can grow the greatest gourd. The winning pumpkin regularly tops the scale at more than 1200 pounds. (The world record pumpkin in 2007 was grown by Joe Jutras in Topsfield, Massachusetts. ) Morton, Illinois, the self-declared pumpkin capital of the world, has held a Pumpkin Festival since 1966. The town, where Nestlé's pumpkin packing plant is located (and where 90% of canned pumpkins eaten in the US are processed) carved and lit pumpkins in one place, a record which the town held for several years before losing it to Boston, Massachusetts in 2006. A large contributor of pumpkins to the festival is local Keene State College which hosts an event called "Pumpkin Lobotomy" on their main quad. Usually held the day before the festival itself, Pumpkin Lobotomy has the air of a large party, with the school providing pumpkins and carving instruments alike (though some students prefer to use their own) and music provided by college radio station, WKNH.