Pumpkin or waluh food that is rich in vitamins A and C, minerals, and carbohydrates. Meat also contains fruit as a prophylactic antiokisidan various types of cancer. Unfortunately, so far has not been optimal utilization.
Fruit squash can be used for various types of food and feeling good taste. Function as a leaf vegetable and bijinya be useful for kuaci. Water as a useful fruit bidder poison poisonous animals, while a drug bijinya tapeworm.
Research on the characterization and the potential utilization of minor food commodities are still very few compared to the main food commodities, such as rice and soybean. Waluh or pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata), which is known in English as a pumpkin, including the utilization of food commodities is very limited.
Pumpkin vine growing plants with large leaves and hirsute. Shoots leaves and young leaves can be used as a delicious vegetable, can be eaten as a vegetable bersantan, oseng-oseng, or gado-gado. Besides leaves, parts of this plant that has economic value and is the most important vitamin fruit.
There are five species commonly known squash, Cucurbita maxima Duchenes namely, Cucurbita ficifolia Bouche, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita moschata Duchenes, and Cucurbita L. pipo Cucurbita fifth species in Indonesia called pumpkin (waluh) because they have characteristics that are similar.
Pumpkin-shaped fruit rounded flat, oval, or long with a lot of flow (flow 15-30). Size of fast growth, reaching 350 grams per day.
Large fruit and the color varies (young fruit is green, while the older pale yellow). Pulp thickness about three cm and slightly sweet taste.
Fruit weight average 3-5 kg. For large size pumpkin, have a weight can reach 20 kg per fruit. Old pumpkin seeds can be consumed as kuaci after digarami and baked.
Pumpkin fruit has a very thick skin and hard, so it can act as a barrier respiration rate, discharge water through evaporation, and the inclusion of air causes oxidation process. Things that have caused pumpkin relatively durable compared to other fruits. Power can achieve lasting six months or more, depending on how storage.
However, the fruit that has been processed immediately should be split because it will very easily be damaged. This is a constraint in the pumpkin on the scale of households because of the pumpkin can not be processed at once. Therefore, in supermarkets or traditional markets, pumpkin is often sold in the form of slices.
Fruit squash can be used as a vegetable, soup, or desert. Society in general take advantage of the young pumpkin as a vegetable (lodeh, the ASEM-ASEM, brongkos). Traditional processing of the most known is the pumpkin compote.
Fruit that is old as used in the mixture to make porridge and vegetables Manado spinach ala South Sulawesi. Steamed pumpkin can be made after a variety of traditional foods, such as dawet, lepet, porridge, dodol, and others.
Appropriate name, pumpkin have yellow or orange due to the womb karotenoidnya that is very high. That is water perasan pumpkin is often used as a natural coloring agent in a variety of traditional foods.
Air perasan fruit can be injured due to toxic treat animals. Approximately 500-800 seeds without fresh skin can be used as medicine tapeworm eradicator in adults. Sometimes given as a drug emulsion (drink with laxative), after mixed with water. Such treatment is very nutritious and safe without side effects.
Pumpkin seeds, known as the Cement Cucurbitae, rich in oil and can be used as medicine tapeworm. Other uses for the pumpkin is bitten by insects noxious drug (meat and fruit getahnya), dysentery, and constipation.
Pumpkin can also be used to cure inflammation, kidney treatment, fever, and diarrhea. Based on the pumpkin and the empirical hereditary for different treatment, suspected of commodities has bioaktif various components that need to be proven scientifically.
