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Cucurbita Plants: From Farm to Industry

2019; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 9; Issue: 16 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/app9163387

2076-3417

Bahare Salehi, Javad Sharifi‐Rad, Esra Çapanoğlu, Nabil Adrar, Gizem Çatalkaya, Shabnum Shaheen, Mehwish Jaffer, Lalit Giri, Renu Suyal, Arun K. Jugran, Daniela Călina, Anca Oana Docea, Senem Kamiloğlu, Dorota Kręgiel, Hubert Antolak, Ewelina Pawlikowska, Surjit Sen, Krishnendu Acharya, Moein Bashiry, Zeliha Selamoğlu, Miquel Martorell, Farukh Sharopov, Natália Martins, Jacek Namieśnik, William C. Cho,

Coconut Research and Applications

The Cucurbita genus, a member of Cucurbitaceae family, also known as cucurbits, is native to the Americas. Genus members, like Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita maxima, have been used for centuries in folk medicine for treating gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal parasites. These pharmacological effects are mainly attributed to their phytochemical composition. Indeed, Cucurbita species are a natural source of carotenoids, tocopherols, phenols, terpenoids, saponins, sterols, fatty acids, functional carbohydrates, and polysaccharides, that beyond exerting remarkable biological effects, have also been increasingly exploited for biotechnological applications. In this article, we specifically cover the habitat, cultivation, phytochemical composition, and food preservative abilities of Cucurbita plants.