Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important global public health problem. Despite the availability of drug therapy, patients have continued using plants with anti-diabetic properties as alternative treatments for diabetes. Cucurbita ficifolia Bouché (C. ficifolia) is a plant cultivated in Mexico for its edible fruit that is medicinally used to control type 2 DM (T2D). The hypoglycemic effect of C. f...

Squash was first domesticated in Mexico and is now found throughout North America (NA) along with Peponapis pruinosa, a pollen specialist bee species of the squash genus Cucurbita The origin and spread of squash cultivation is well-studied archaeologically and phylogenetically; however, no study has documented how cultivation of this or any other crop has influenced species in mutualistic inter...

Sicana odorifera is reported for the first time as a natural host of South American cucurbit fruit fly, Anastrepha grandis . This paper presents information on this new and discusses distribution A. its hosts in Brazil. In addition, Cucurbita moschata recorded state Paraná.

Questions that still surround the origin and early dispersals of maize (Zea mays L.) result in large part from the absence of information on its early history from the Balsas River Valley of tropical southwestern Mexico, where its wild ancestor is native. We report starch grain and phytolith data from the Xihuatoxtla shelter, located in the Central Balsas Valley, that indicate that maize was pr...

The parentals of the interspecific cross Cucurbita maxima xC. ecuadorensis had different isozyme phenotypes for 12 enzyme systems. Characterization of the systems demonstrated that the expression and intracellular distribution of the isozymes were similar to those in other plant taxa; however, a considerable number of duplicate loci were identified, indicative of a polyploid ancestry for Cucurb...

In order to clarify the influence of the rootstock cultivar and fruit storage on the texture of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruit, we examined the physical properties of the fruit, i.e., flesh firmness, placental firmness, skin toughness, and the crispness index. Cucumber fruits from own-rooted plants and from plants grafted onto the three rootstock cultivars of ‘Shin-tosa’ (Cucurbita maxima ...

The processing methods, especially cooking, can cause quality losses, particularly in the nutritional value of fresh product. This study investigated effects preprocessing methods on properties pumpkin and physicochemical sensory yogurt. Two different varieties (Cucurbita pepo Cucurbita maxima) were subjected to three (freeze-drying, boiling, baking). Boiling significantly increased antioxidant...

Los carotenoides son pigmentos orgánicos que el organismo no puede sintetizar y deben ser suministrados en la dieta humana. Este artículo de revisión tiene por objetivo abordar ruta carotenogénica los predominantes pulpa cucurbitáceas, siendo una las hortalizas con mayor contenido carotenoides, tonalidades amarillo naranja. Se recopiló literatura relevante sobre temática proveniente libros artí...