IT’S that time of the year again! Time to start carving pumpkins and dressing up to scare, for it is Halloween.

Halloween is celebrated yearly in the month of October, mainly in western countries.

Kids will dress up and go trick-or-treating around their neighbourhood. During this celebration, pumpkins are not only ideal for decorations, but also in cooking.

Pumpkins are carved and used as lanterns and decorations.Carved pumpkins are called Jack-O’-Lanterns.

Pumpkins are rich in antioxidants, vitamin A, fibre, and low in calories.

Here are 11 facts you didn’t know about pumpkins:

  1. Pumpkin flowers and seeds are edible. So, instead of throwing away precious seeds, start roasting them and eat.They make a great healthy snack.
  2. Pumpkins are 90% water. This explains why pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and
  3. Back in the day, pumpkins were used as medicine. They were used to remove freckles and cure snake bites.
  4. Pumpkins are, actually, a type of squash.
  5. Pumpkins belong in the same family (Cucurbita family) as cucumbers, gourds and squashes.
  6. There are more than 40 types of pumpkins around the world. They all vary in shape, colour and size. Some pumpkins are not even orange.
  7. Pumpkins are fruits, not vegetables.
  8. The tradition of pumpkin carving first started in Ireland.
  9. There’s actually no pumpkin in pumpkin spice. It only contains cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
  10. Pumpkins can grow in every continent of the world, except Antarctica.
  11. There is a type of pumpkin called “Cinderella” because of how much it resembles the one in the fairytale, Cinderella.

Craving for pumpkins? Here are two pumpkin recipes you can try:

1. Pumpkin treasure chest. Click here for recipe.

Pumpkin-treasure-chest

2. Pumpkin and raisin bread rolls. Click here for recipe.

Pumpkin-and-raisin-bread-roll

Pumpkin photo courtesy of AFP.

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7 thoughts on “11 interesting facts about pumpkins”

  1. Mike Willis - October 30, 2014 at 1:03 am

    thanks for the interesting facts…really amazed….:)

    Reply
  2. Jorge Bernal - January 5, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    Interesting fact number 12…
    Pumpkins, like other squash, are thought to have originated in North America. The oldest evidence, pumpkin-related seeds dating between 7000 and 5500 BC, were found in Mexico.[1][2]

    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin

    Reply
  3. Philip K - January 24, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    Fantastic! Never knew so much good in pumpkins! Must go for it more often now….

    Reply
  4. Samita Ong - February 21, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    informative .. thanks

    Reply
  5. pearlie - March 14, 2015 at 2:18 pm

    Thanks for the recipe. I was once told to make juice to drink from a raw pumpkin. Can we drink it raw. Tks.

    Reply
  6. CFC - April 2, 2015 at 8:13 am

    My mom boils chicken soup with pumpkin and some Chinese herbs and we all like it very much. I like to try fact no 3. on my freckles.

    Reply
  7. Lookchoi Loo - April 5, 2015 at 6:16 pm

    how to cook pumpkin soap

    Reply

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