Interesting Facts About Pumpkin

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I learned and shared with all of my Mylot friends last month, that the pumpkins are technically a fruit because of the way it is grown. The pumpkin is a winter squash in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes melons and cucumbers. They are 90% water with only half a gram of fat. Sweet potatoes have three times the calories. They have more fiber than kale, are full of iron and magnesium, and, have more potassium than bananas. They are also full of the antioxidant beta-carotene. One cup of pumpkin is only 49 calories and the orange fruit contains 49 percent of our daily needs in vitamin K, along with vitamin C, potassium, vitamin E, iron, folate, and niacin. Here are some other interesting facts about the fruit: Colonists would cut the tops off pumpkins, add spices, milk, and honey then bake them in hot ashes. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? The pumpkin puree we buy at the grocery store isn't actually made from pumpkin. Although it may say it is 100% pumpkin it is actually Dickinson squash, a close relative to the acorn and Hubbard squash varieties. Pumpkins come in an array of colors. With such names as Hooligan, Cotton, Candy, and Orange Smoothie there are more than 45 different varieties. The largest pumpkin on record is one that weighed 2,600 pounds and was grown in Germany. Growing of the pumpkin starts in between May and July and the top pumpkin-producing states in the country are Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and even California. Picture courtesy of bwallpaperhd.com