Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) seed oil: Chemical composition, antioxidant activities and its authentication analysis

Pumpkin seed oil (PSO) has been known as functional food oil due to some bioactive components contained such as phenolics and tocopherols with beneficial effects to human health including antioxidants, prevention of certain cancers, and retardation of hypertension progression and alleviation of diabetes mellitus. To extract PSO from corresponding fruit seed, numerous extraction techniques either conventional like Soxhlet extraction or modern extraction systems such as ultrasound-assisted extraction and supercritical extraction were optimized and developed to get maximum yields of PSO with maximum bioactive components. PSO contained tocopherols and other phenolics compounds, therefore, it has potential application in the treatment of diseases related to oxidative stress. Due to the different price of PSO with other vegetable oils, the adulteration practice involving the substitution or addition of PSO with lower price oils such as palm oil and corn oils is possible, therefore analytical method capable of detecting the adulteration practice is available. The aim of this review was to highlight the physicochemical properties, extraction procedure, antioxidant activities and authentication analysis of PSO. © 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.