Traditional Green Vegetables: The Plants

Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima), malenge (Kiswahili), marenge (Kikuyu), lisiebebe (Luhya), risosa (Kisii), ulenge (Kamba), bododa (Borana).  A spreading annual herb belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae that is native to North America and was cultivated in Mexico as much as 7000 years ago.  This species provides pumpkin, squash and gourd but is only one of several closely related, and often confused, species from North America including C. pepo, C. moschata and C. mixta.  Pumpkins have long-running, bristled stems, large, deeply-lobed leaves often containing white “blotches” and yellow or orange flowers separated into male and female types on the same plant. The fruit is variable in shape and colour but is often white, cream or green, containing about 70% flesh and several large white seeds.  The leaves, fruit and seeds are edible, with the fruit usually boiled or steamed and the seeds roasted.  The younger leaves are collected, petioles and stem removed, washed, chopped and boiled.  Pumpkins are grown from seed by planting in hills 1 to 2 m. apart and prefer well drained, fertile soils that are fertilized with compost or manure.  The fruit may rot when in contact with moist soil so often cut grass or leaves are placed beneath the fruit.  Pumpkin fruit contains 1% protein and 8% carbohydrates, and the dried seeds contain 23% protein, 21% carbohydrates and up to 50% oil, but little information is available about the nutritional characteristics of cooked leaves. Pumpkin is susceptible to leaf fungi (mildews) and virus disease (mosaic), but these usually appear later in the life of the crop.  Pumpkin leaves that are sprayed with fungicide should not be eaten as spinach.