Pumpkin seed oil: unveiling its potential in controlling inflammation and pathogenicity during experimental trichinellosis.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the antiparasitic and anti-inflammatory potential of pumpkin seed oil in mice infected with Trichinella spiralis by demonstrating its impact on MMP-9 expression and pathogenesis during the intestinal and muscular phases. RESULTS: In this study, 100 mice were divided into five groups: an infected group, a pumpkin seed oil-treated group (1.5 mg/kg BW, administered three times per week), an albendazole-treated group, a native control group, and a pumpkin oil control group. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the pumpkin seed oil revealed a broad spectrum of biologically active compounds. The pumpkin seed oil treatment led to a significant reduction in the parasite burden, with a 75% decrease in adult worms and a 66% decrease in encysted larvae. Additionally, the infected animals treated with pumpkin oil exhibited a marked reduction in intestinal inflammation, characterized by a progressive increase in goblet cells. The number of encysted larvae in the diaphragm and muscle tissues was also significantly decreased. Furthermore, pumpkin seed oil treatment significantly reduced MMP-9 levels in both intestinal and muscular tissues, highlighting its potential to attenuate inflammation. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the effectiveness of pumpkin seed oil as anti-inflammatory and antiparasitic agent.

Pumpkin and Pumpkin By-Products: A Comprehensive Overview of Phytochemicals, Extraction, Health Benefits, and Food Applications.

A versatile and popular Cucurbitaceous vegetable, pumpkin has recently gained much attention because of its variety of phytochemicals and health advantages. Pumpkins are a type of winter squash, traditionally with large, spherical, orange fruits and a highly nutrient food. Pumpkin by-products comprise various parts, such as seeds, peels, and pulp residues, with their bioactive composition and many potential benefits poorly explored by the food industry. Pumpkin and their by-products contain a wide range of phytochemicals, including carotenoids, polyphenols, tocopherols, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibers. These compounds in pumpkin by-products exhibit antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and antimicrobial properties and could reduce the risk of chronic diseases. This comprehensive review aims to provide a detailed overview of the phytochemicals found in pumpkin and its by-products, along with their extraction methods, health benefits, and diverse food and industrial applications. This information can offer valuable insights for food scientists seeking to reevaluate pumpkin's potential as a functional ingredient. Reusing these by-products would support integrating a circular economy approach by boosting the market presence of valuable and sustainable products that improve health while lowering food waste.

Ultrasound as Green Technology for the Valorization of Pumpkin Leaves: Intensification of Protein Recovery.

The recovery of valuable nutritional compounds, like proteins, from waste streams and by-products is a key strategy for enhancing production sustainability and opening up new market potential. This research aimed to use high-intensity ultrasound as an innovative technique to extract the soluble proteins from the pumpkin leaves. The impact of various sonication amplitudes and duration periods on protein yield, functional properties, antioxidant qualities, and structural characteristics, were studied. Utilization of ultrasound technology significantly increased the yield of pumpkin leaf protein by up to 40%-six times higher than maceration. The ultrasound extraction provided a RuBisCO-rich protein fraction with high radical scavenging and chelating activities, especially at 40% amplitude. Cavitation modified the tertiary and secondary structures of leaf proteins: the amount of α-helix changed based on amplitude (12.3-37.7%), the amount of random coil increased to 20.4%, and the amount of ß-turn reduced from 31 to 18.6%. The alteration of the protein fluorescence spectrum (blue shift in spectrum) provides further evidence that ultrasound alters the proteins' molecular structure in comparation with maceration; the maximum tryptophan fluorescence intensity decreased from 22.000 to 17.096. The hydrophobicity values of 76.8-101.5 were substantially higher than the maceration value of 53.4, indicating that ultrasound improved the hydrophobicity of protein surfaces. Ultrasound resulted in a significant increase in solubility in an acidic environment with the increase in sonication amplitude. A 2.4-fold increase in solubility at pH 2 becomes apparent (20% amplitude; 43.1%) versus maceration (18.2%). The emulsifying ability decreases from 6.62 to 5.13 m2/g once the sonication amplitude increases by 20-70%. By combining the ultrasound periods and amplitudes, it is possible to create high-value protein leaf extracts with improved properties which can find real application as food additives and dietary supplements.

Kinetics of conductive hydro-drying of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) pulp.

Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) samples were dehydrated by conductive hydro-drying (CHD) (1 atm, 80 °C), sliced and purées, both structures with thicknesses of 1.5, 3 and 6 mm. Drying kinetics were analyzed and the effective diffusivity (D ef) was determined in both structures at the three thicknesses. Drying curves were fitted to ten kinetic models: Lewis, Henderson & Pabis, Logarithmic, Page, Wang & Singh, Page Modified, Midilli, Diffusion Approximation, Two-term Exponential and Verma. D ef was determined by analytical solution of Fick's Second Law in rectangular coordinates by Crank's method. In general, the semi-empirical model that best fit showed was Midilli's model. However, the importance of phenomenological models such as the analytical solution of Fick's second law for process scaling and equipment design should be considered. These modeling results aid in predicting performance and fine-tuning hydrodrying processes for sustainable, high-quality food. Future applications may involve integrating these models into industrial-scale hydrodryers, reducing energy consumption and environmental impact.

Protein identification and potential bioactive peptides from pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) seeds.

Pumpkin is an economically important crop all over the world. Approximately, 18%-21% of pumpkins, consisting of peels and seeds by-products, are wasted during processing. In addition, the seeds are rich in protein and have the potency of bioactive peptide production. This study aims to recognize the proteins and investigate the potential bioactive peptides from pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) seeds. Pumpkin seeds were subjected to hot air drying (HAD) at 55°C for 12 h and freeze-drying (FD) at -80°C for 54 h before they were powdered, analyzed, and precipitated by isoelectric point to obtain pumpkin seed protein isolates (PSPI). PSPI comprised 11S globulin subunit beta, 2S seed storage albumin, and chaperonin CPN60-1. To generate hydrolysate peptides, PSPI was hydrolyzed using papain, pepsin, and bromelain. FD group pepsin hydrolysates had the highest peptide content of 420.83 mg/g. ACE inhibition and DPP-IV inhibition activity were analyzed for each enzymatic hydrolysate. The pepsin hydrolyzed sample exhibited the highest ACE inhibition of 70.26%, and the papain hydrolyzed sample exhibited the highest DPP-IV inhibition of 30.51%. The simulated gastrointestinal digestion (SGID) conducted by pepsin and pancreatin increased ACE inhibitory activity from 76.93% to 78.34%, and DPP-IV inhibited activity increased from 58.62% to 77.13%. Pepsin and papain hydrolysates were fractionated using ultrafiltration to measure ACE and DPP-IV inhibition activity. The highest free radical scavenging abilities were exhibited by the <1 kDa hydrolysate fractions with 78.34% ACE inhibitory activities and 79.55% DPP-IV inhibitory activities. This research revealed that pumpkin seeds had the potency to produce bioactive peptides.

Molecular identification of lactic acid bacteria from traditional fermented foods and screening exopolysaccharide production by using food wastes.

In this study, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolation from fermented foods and molecular identification using magnetic bead technology were performed. And then exopolysaccharide (EPS) production possibility was tested in agar medium, and the positive ones were selected for the next step. The bacteria that could produce higher carbohydrate level were grown in MRS medium fortified with whey and pumpkin waste. In our study, 19 different LAB species were identified from fermented products collected from different places in Hatay (Türkiye) province. In molecular identification, universal primer pairs, p806R/p8FPL, and PEU7/DG74 were used for PCR amplification. After that, PCR products purified using paramagnetic bead technology were sequenced by the Sanger sequencing method. The dominant species, 23.8% of the isolates, were identified as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. As a technological property of LAB, exopolysaccharide production capability of forty-two LAB isolate was tested in agar medium, and after eleven isolates were selected as positive. Two LAB (Latilactobacillus curvatus SHA2-3B and Loigolactobacillus coryniformis SHA6-3B) had higher EPS production capability when they were grown in MRS broth fortified with pumpkin waste and whey. The highest EPS content (1750 mg/L glucose equivalent) was determined in Loigolactobacillus coryniformis SHA6-3B grown in MRS broth fortified with 10% pumpkin waste. Besides the produced EPS samples were validated with FTIR and SEM methods.

Comprehensive metabolomics and chemometrics unravel potential anti-diabetic metabolites of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) fruits through UPLC-QqQ-MS and GC-MS analyses.

This comprehensive study explores the phytoconstituents of different parts of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) including flesh, peel, seeds, pumpkin juice, and pumpkin seed oil. Utilizing advanced analytical techniques including UPLC-QqQ-MS and GC-TSQ-MS combined with multivariate statistical analysis, 94 distinct chromatographic peaks from various chemical classes were annotated. Predominant classes included phenolic acids, flavonoids, cucurbitacins, amino acids, triterpenoids, fatty acids, sterols, carotenoids, and other compounds. For more comprehensive chemical profiling of the tested samples, fractionation of the different parts of the fruit was attempted through successive solvent extraction. The unsaponifiable part of the oils, analyzed by GC, showed that the phytosterols, namely ß-sitosterol, and stigmasterol are in the majority. All pumpkin extracts showed significant inhibition of carbohydrase enzymes and glucose uptake promotion by cells. Pumpkin flesh butanol fraction exhibited potent α-glucosidase inhibition, while pumpkin defatted seed methylene chloride fraction showed strong α-amylase inhibition. Additionally, pumpkin seed oil and defatted seed petroleum ether fraction demonstrated high glucose uptake activity. Bioactive metabolites including vaccenic acid, sinapic acid, kuguacin G, luteolin hexoside, delta-7-avenasterol, cucurbitosides and others were unveiled through OPLS multivariate models elucidating the anti-diabetic potential of pumpkin. These findings support the use of pumpkin as a functional food, offering insights into its mechanisms of action in diabetes management.

Production of set-type probiotic and prebiotic yogurt-like products using Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis strains in combination with pumpkin waste.

This study investigated the effect of pumpkin powder (2 %, 4 %, and 6 %) and Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis probiotics on the physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory properties of yogurt samples during 28 days of storage at 4 °C. The prebiotic effect of pumpkin powder (Cucurbita pepo) and the probiotic effect of Enterococcus faecium and E. faecalis were determined. Adding pumpkin powder to yogurt did not significantly alter the pH, acidity, fat, protein, and ash content (p > 0.05). Water holding was not changed during the storage time in the samples of probiotic yogurts, but as the pumpkin powder content increased, the water holding capacity also increased (p < 0.05). This situation did lead to a reduction in syneresis (p < 0.05). The lowest gumminess value at the end of storage was found in the D2 sample (p < 0.05), and the highest adhesiveness value was found in the D4 sample (p < 0.05). Furthermore, throughout the 28-day storage period, E. faecium and E. faecalis maintained a live cell count of ≥6 log CFU g-1 in the probiotic product. As a result of the statistical evaluation, there was a decrease in E. faecium in the D4, S2, and S4 samples, and then it increased again (p > 0.05) during the storage time. As a result of the statistical evaluation, it was determined that the smell, consistency in the spoon, consistency in the mouth, flavor, and acidity changes during the storage were not substantial (p > 0.05). In conclusion, it was found that pumpkin, a byproduct of the pumpkin seed industry, has the potential to act as a prebiotic and improve the properties of dairy products. Additionally, the study suggests that E. faecium and E. faecalis strains could be suitable for probiotic yogurts.

Selected Mesoamerican Crops - Anti-Obesity Potential and Health Promotion. A Review.

Mesoamerica is the center of origin of a great number of food crops that nowadays are part of a healthy diet. Pre-Columbian civilizations utilized more than 90% of these foods as ingredient or in main dishes, as well as for remedies and religious ceremonies. Since several years ago, Mesoamerican foods have been recognized by their outstanding concentration of bioactive compounds, including, phenolic compounds, pigments, essential fatty acids, amino acids, peptides, carbohydrates and vitamins, which provide a great number of health benefits. As a result of their unique composition, these ancient crops have several positive effects, such as hypoglycemic, antioxidant, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, anti-ageing, neuroprotective, anti-diarrheal, and anti-hypercholesterolemic capacity. Hence, this review is focused mainly in the anti-obesity and antioxidant potential of some of the most cultivated, harvested, as well as commercialized and consumed, food crops native of Mesoamerica, like, nopal and its fruit (Opuntia ficus indica spp.), chia (Salvia hispanica L.), pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) and cacao (Theobroma cacao).

Biosorption of Remazol Brilliant Blue R textile dye using Clostridium beijerinckii by biorefinery approach.

The current study proposes RBBR biosorption by Clostridium beijerinckii DSMZ 6422 biomass remaining after biobutanol production from pumpkin peel (PP) by a zero-waste approach. Efficient biobutanol production was achieved by investigating initial PP concentrations (5-20% without or with enzymatic hydrolysis) and fermentation time. According to this, the highest concentrations of biobutanol and total ABE were obtained as 4.87 g/L and 8.13 g/L in the presence of 10% PP without enzymatic hydrolysis at 96 h. Furthermore, based on the zero-waste approach, C. beijerinckii DSMZ 6422 biomass obtained after biofuel production was used as a biosorbent for the removal of RBBR dye. Response surface methodology (RSM), commonly utilized for the experimental design, was used to specify the optimized biosorption conditions of RBBR, including initial dye concentration (50-200 mg/L), initial pH (2-6), biosorbent concentration (1-3 g/L), and contact time (0-240 min). The highest biosorption under optimized conditions with RSM was 98% in the presence of 194.36 mg/L RBBR and 2.65 g/L biosorbent at pH 2 and 15 min. This is the first report in the literature about the biosorption of RBBR dye by anaerobic C. beijerinckii biomass after the biobutanol production process. This study also shows the efficient usage of agricultural and microbial wastes in different areas based on zero-waste applications.

Negative and sex-specific effects of drought on flower production, resources and pollinator visitation, but not on floral scent in monoecious Cucurbita pepo.

The globally changing climatic condition is increasing the incidences of drought in several parts of the world. This is predicted and already shown to not only impact plant growth and flower development, but also plant-pollinator interactions and the pollination success of entomophilous plants. However, there is a large gap in our understanding of how drought affects the different flowers and pollen transfer among flowers in sexually polymorphic species. Here, we evaluated in monoecious Styrian oil pumpkin, and separately for female and male flowers, the responses of drought stress on flower production, petal size, nectar, floral scent and visitation by bumblebee pollinators. Drought stress adversely affected all floral traits studied, except floral scent. Although both flower sexes were adversely affected by drought stress, the effects were more severe on female flowers, with most of the female flowers even aborted before opening. The drought had negative effects on floral visitation by the pollinators, which generally preferred female flowers. Overall, our study highlights that the two flower sexes of a monoecious plant species are differently affected by drought stress and calls for further investigations to better understand the cues used by the pollinators to discriminate against male flowers and against flowers of drought-stressed plants.

Optical nonlinearity and all-optical switching in pumpkin seed oil based on the spatial cross-phase modulation (SXPM) technique.

Nonlinear optics (NLO) and its applications have attracted increasing research interest in recent years owing to their contribution to the development of photonic technology. Accordingly, in this study, we investigated the NLO response of pumpkin seed oil using the spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM) method. Significant NLO characteristics have been experimentally studied at 405 nm and 532 nm continuous wave (CW) laser wavelengths, yielding second-order nonlinear refractive index ( n 2 , t h ) values of 6.54 × 10 - 5 cm 2 / W and 2.73 × 10 - 5 cm 2 / W , respectively. The findings suggest that the absorption of the material leads to higher optical nonlinearity at shorter wavelengths owing to higher thermal effects. Furthermore, we implemented a light-controlled-light system based on the spatial cross-phase modulation (SXPM) technique employing pumpkin seed oil. We successfully achieved all-optical switching by designing the 'ON' and 'OFF' modes. The results of this study can be considered for the future development of NLO applications. Moreover, our work investigates the potential of pumpkin seed oil for designing low-cost and high-efficiency NLO devices, and this contribution opens up a novel practical avenue for oil-based optical devices.

Evaluation of Organic Acids and Ultrasound as Pretreatment in Convective Drying Kinetics and Quality Parameters of Pumpkin.

There is a growing interest in the food industry in new drying technologies that reduce the time required for dehydration, combined with low energy consumption, low environmental impact, and maintenance of the overall quality of the product. This work investigated convective drying of pumpkin with and without ultrasound-organic (citric or acetic) acid pretreatment for different durations (10, 20, and 30 min). Drying was carried out at 60 °C, and the Wang and Singh model had the best fit for the experimental data. Samples pretreated for 30 min had the shortest drying times. Water diffusivities ranged from 6.68 × 10-8 m2/s to 7.31 × 10-8 m2/s, with the pretreated samples presenting the highest values. The dried pumpkin water activity values were below 0.60. Regarding color parameters, there was a slight increase in luminosity, a slight reduction in a*, and a significant increase in b*. Drying resulted in the loss of ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds, but the samples pretreated with citric acid showed better retention. There was also a reduction in the total carotenoid content, but samples pretreated with acetic acid for 10 and 20 min showed the best retention.

Can Functional Micro-organisms Associated with Pumpkin Sizes Be Sought Out from the Soil?-A Comparison of Soil Microbial Community Structures in Rhizospheres between Giant- and Small-Sized Pumpkin Varieties.

To elucidate the biological mechanisms driving the growth of various pumpkin varieties to different sizes under identical management conditions while in the same field, the soil microbial community structures in the rhizospheres of giant-pumpkin (GP) and small-pumpkin (SP) varieties were analyzed. The results revealed that a significantly higher abundance of bacterial communities could be detected in the rhizospheres of the giant pumpkin varieties, such as Gemmatimonadota, norank__f__norank__o_Gaiellales, norank__f__Gemmatimonadaceae, Bryobacter, Sphingomonas, norank__f__JG30-KF-AS9, and norank__f__norank__o___Elsterales, than in those of the small-sized pumpkins. Additionally, norank_f__norank_o__Elsterale, Ellin6067, norank_f__67-14, and Chujaibacter were unique dominant soil bacteria genera in the rhizospheres of the giant pumpkins. By contrast, Arthrobacter, norank_f__Roseiflexaceae, unclassified_f__Rhizobiaceae, Allorhizobium-Neorhizobium-Pararhizobium-Rhizobium, Nocardioides, Mycobacterium, norank_f__norank_o__Vicinamibacterales, and Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia were the unique dominant soil bacterial genera in the rhizospheres of the small pumpkins. Moreover, at the fungal genus level, unclassified_c__Chytridiomycetes, Podosphaera, and Colletotrichum presented significant differences between the giant-pumpkin (GP) and small-pumpkin (SP) rhizospheres. In addition, unclassified__p__Rozellomycota, unclassified__c__Chytridiomycetes, Penicillium, and unclassified__f__Chaetomiaceae were unique dominant soil fungal genera in the rhizospheres of the giant pumpkins (GPs). By contrast, Podosphaera, Colletotrichum, unclassified__f__Plectosphaerellaceae, unclassified__o_Boletales, Scytalidium, unclassified__p__Rozellomycota, and unclassified__o_Agaricales were the unique dominant soil fungal genera in the rhizospheres of the small pumpkins (SPs). PICRUSt and FUNGuild functional prediction analyses revealed that the giant-pumpkin rhizosphere microbial community had significantly increased translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis, nucleotide transport and metabolism, defense mechanisms, replication, recombination and repair, wood saprotroph, and undefined saprotroph levels. The above results suggest that the soil microbial compositions differed between the rhizospheres of the giant- (GP) and small-pumpkin (SP) varieties, even though the plants were grown in the same field under identical management conditions. Meanwhile, bacterial genera such as norank_f__norank_o__Elsterale, Ellin6067, norank_f__67-14, and Chujaibacter, in addition to fungal genera such as unclassified__p__Rozellomycota, unclassified__c__Chytridiomycetes, Penicillium, and unclassified__f__Chaetomiaceae, can be speculated as potential soil functional micro-organisms associated with improved pumpkin size.

A Precise Segmentation Algorithm of Pumpkin Seedling Point Cloud Stem Based on CPHNet.

Accurate segmentation of the stem of pumpkin seedlings has a great influence on the modernization of pumpkin cultivation, and can provide detailed data support for the growth of pumpkin plants. We collected and constructed a pumpkin seedling point cloud dataset for the first time. Potting soil and wall background in point cloud data often interfere with the accuracy of partial cutting of pumpkin seedling stems. The stem shape of pumpkin seedlings varies due to other environmental factors during the growing stage. The stem of the pumpkin seedling is closely connected with the potting soil and leaves, and the boundary of the stem is easily blurred. These problems bring challenges to the accurate segmentation of pumpkin seedling point cloud stems. In this paper, an accurate segmentation algorithm for pumpkin seedling point cloud stems based on CPHNet is proposed. First, a channel residual attention multilayer perceptron (CRA-MLP) module is proposed, which suppresses background interference such as soil. Second, a position-enhanced self-attention (PESA) mechanism is proposed, enabling the model to adapt to diverse morphologies of pumpkin seedling point cloud data stems. Finally, a hybrid loss function of cross entropy loss and dice loss (HCE-Dice Loss) is proposed to address the issue of fuzzy stem boundaries. The experimental results show that CPHNet achieves a 90.4% average cross-to-merge ratio (mIoU), 93.1% average accuracy (mP), 95.6% average recall rate (mR), 94.4% F1 score (mF1) and 0.03 plants/second (speed) on the self-built dataset. Compared with other popular segmentation models, this model is more accurate and stable for cutting the stem part of the pumpkin seedling point cloud.

Effect of exogenous melatonin on growth and antioxidant system of pumpkin seedlings under waterlogging stress.

Melatonin regulates defense responses in plants under environmental stress. This study aimed to explore the impact of exogenous melatonin on the phenotype and physiology of 'BM1' pumpkin seedlings subjected to waterlogging stress. Waterlogging stress was induced following foliar spraying of melatonin at various concentrations (CK, 0, 10, 100, 200, and 300 µmol·L-1). The growth parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, antioxidant enzyme activity, osmoregulatory substance levels, and other physiological indicators were assessed to elucidate the physiological mechanisms underlying the role of exogenous melatonin in mitigating waterlogging stress in pumpkin seedlings. The results indicate that pumpkin seedlings exhibit waterlogging symptoms, such as leaf wilting, water loss, edge chlorosis, and fading, under waterlogging stress conditions. Various growth indicators of the seedlings, including plant height, stem diameter, root length, fresh and dry weight, and leaf chlorophyll content, were significantly reduced. Moreover, the MDA content in leaves and roots increased significantly, along with elevated activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, and soluble protein contents. When different concentrations of melatonin were sprayed on the leaves post waterlogging stress treatment, pumpkin seedlings showed varying degrees of recovery, with the 100 µmol·L-1 treatment displaying the best growth status and plant morphological phenotypes. There were no significant differences compared to the control group. Seedling growth indicators, chlorophyll content, root activity, antioxidant enzyme activities, soluble protein content, and osmotic adjustment substance content all increased to varying degrees with increasing melatonin concentration, peaking at 100 µmol·L-1. Melatonin also reduced membrane damage caused by oxidative stress and alleviated osmotic imbalance. Exogenous melatonin enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes and systems involved in scavenging reactive oxygen species, with 100 µmol·L-1 as the optimal concentration. These findings underscore the crucial role of exogenous melatonin in alleviating waterlogging stress in pumpkins. The findings of this study offer a theoretical framework and technical assistance for cultivating waterlogging-resistant pumpkins in practical settings. Additionally, it establishes a theoretical groundwork for the molecular breeding of pumpkins with increased tolerance to waterlogging.

Development of a new magnetic solid-phase extraction method prior to HPLC determination of naproxen in pharmaceutical products and water samples.

In this study, a new magnetic solid phase extraction based on magnetic composite modified with biochar obtained from pumpkin peel was developed for the enrichment and extraction of Naproxen in lake water, tablet and urine samples. The effects of main parameters such as pH, extraction time, amount of adsorbent and sample volume, which affect magnetic solid phase extraction, were investigated. Under optimal conditions, intraday and interday precision values for naproxen were below 5.9, with accuracy (relative error) better than 7.0 %. The detection limit and preliminary concentration factor were 12 ng/mL and 10, respectively. The method proposed here can be used for routine analysis of naproxen in lake water, urine and tablets.

In Vitro Studies of Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata var. Kashi Harit) Seed Protein Fraction(s) to Evaluate Anticancer and Antidiabetic Properties.

Chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes are the major public health concerns of India and worldwide. Nowadays, plant-derived products are in great demand for the treatment of these diseases. Pumpkin seeds are traditionally implicated for their pharmacological properties, as exemplified by benign prostatic hyperplasia. Earlier, pumpkin seed proteins were extracted by the Osborne method, and their functional and nutritional qualities were evaluated. Here, the aim is to assess in vitro, the anticancer and antidiabetic properties of seed protein fractions. HepG2, MDA-MB-231, and MCF-7 cell lines were treated with water-soluble (WF) and alkali-soluble fractions (AF) to assess cytotoxicity, while pancreatic ß-cells and insulin resistance (IR) - HepG2 cell lines were treated with WF to evaluate the antidiabetic potential. WF and AF showed cytotoxic effects towards HepG2 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines, suggesting apoptosis-mediated anticancerous activity. WF potentiates glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in pancreatic ß-cells, in a dose-dependent manner. In IR-HepG2 cell line studies, control, metformin, and WF-treated groups showed uptake of glucose, when compared to the diabetic group, which is well-correlated with the upregulated expressions of GLUT2 and GLUT4 transporters in these groups. These results indicate that proteins from WF and AF may have anticancerous and antidiabetic properties and thus have the potential to utilize pumpkin proteins in the management of cancer and diabetes.

Enhancing the texture and nutritional value of pumpkin dessert/jam through vacuum impregnation pre-treatment with calcium and vitamin D3.

This study involved fortifying pumpkin slices with calcium and vitamin D3 using vacuum impregnation (VI) pre-treatment and assessing the quality characteristics of the resulting desserts/jams. Slices were subjected to immersion or VI pre-treatments for 30, 60, and 90 min in a solution containing calcium oxide and vitamin D3. Calcium ions contributed to the hardness of desserts, with VI reducing processing time. The highest impregnated calcium (58.17 mg/100 g fw) and vitamin D3 contents (6.02 mg/100 g dm) were determined in slices pre-treated by VI for 90 min. VI was more effective than immersion in terms of calcium and vitamin D3 transition into pumpkin tissues. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images indicated that calcium oxide particles were noticeable in slices pre-treated by VI. Immersing fruit slices for 90 min produced desserts with a textural hardness of 11.04 N, while VI pre-treatment for the same duration increased their hardness value to 18.92 N. Desserts produced with VI-pre-treated slices exhibited superior texture and sensory attributes, with no adverse taste resulting from calcium oxide. In conclusion, VI pre-treatment shows significant potential for the industrial production of desserts/jams with enhanced structural integrity for fruits.

Development and Characterization of Ethylcellulose Oleogels Based on Pumpkin Seed Oil and Rapeseed Oil.

In contrast to rapeseed oil, pumpkin seed oil has yet to be well investigated in terms of oleogelation, and, to the best of our knowledge, no study related to the use of ethylcellulose (EC) in the structuring of this oil has been identified in the current scientific literature. Therefore, the present study evaluated several oleogels formulated with EC as the oleogelator in different concentrations of 7% (OG7) and 9% (OG9), based on cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil (PO) and refined rapeseed oil (RO), as well as on mixtures of the two oils in different combinations: PO:RO (3:1) (PRO) and PO:RO (1:1) (RPO). Physicochemical properties such as visual appearance, gel formation time (GFT), oil-binding capacity (OBC), oxidative and thermal stability, and textural characteristics were analyzed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) were used in the statistical analysis of the data, with a significance level of p < 0.05. EC proved to be an effective structuring agent of the mentioned edible oils; the type of oils and the concentration of oleogelator significantly influenced the characteristics of the obtained oleogels. The 9% EC oleogels exhibited a more rigid structure, with a higher OBC and a reduced GFT. Pumpkin seed oil led to more stable oleogels, while the mixture of pumpkin seed oil with rapeseed oil caused a significant reduction in their mechanical properties and decreased the OBC. After 14 days of storage, all oleogels demonstrated proper oxidative stability within the bounds set by international regulations for edible fats, regardless of the kind of oil and EC concentration. All of the oleogels showed a higher oxidative stability than the oils utilized in their formulation; however, those prepared with cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil indicated a lower level of lipid oxidation among all oleogels. The P-OG9 and PR-OG9 oleogels, which mainly included PO and contained 9% EC, demonstrated the optimum levels of quality in texture, GFT, OBC, and oxidative stability.