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 Styrian pumpkinseed oil
For centuries gourmets appreciate the culinary and health advantages of this Austrian delicacy. For a good reason, of course.
In most European (and other) countries, pumpkin is a popular vegetable, but it is grown as an oil plant only in a small region in Central Europe, at the junction of Austria, Slovenia and Hungary. Pumpkin seed oil has a low smoke point and an exceptionally strong flavour which is comparable only to Chinese dark sesame oil, and is therefore not commonly used as a cooking medium; instead, it is valued as a salad oil and is occasionally used to flavour other types of food.
Pumpkin seed oil (German Kürbiskernöl) is extracted from pumpkin seeds that have been coarsely ground and toasted at temperatures of about 60 °C. Only by this procedure, its typical flavour is developed; pumpkin seed oils obtained by cold extraction are comparably tasteless. In the last years, production of pumpkin seed oil has much increased, since Austria's EU membership has opened new markets; still, agriculture and production of the oil is mostly restricted to Styria (Steiermark), a federal state in South Eastern Austria (which actual.
Origin
Pumpkin, Cucurbita pepo, is native to Central America, especially México, where it has been cultivated for millennia.
After the Spaniards had discovered America, pumpkin was imported into Europe and Asia, where it was welcomed as a cheap and nutritional vegetable. Pumpkin seed oil is won from a particular mutant (Styrian oilseed pumpkin, Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca) with tender, non-woody, seed hulls, which is cultivated only in South-Eastern Austria and the adjacent areas of the neighbouring countries. Pumpkin seed oil is produced in greater scale only since the begin of the 20.th century.
Main constituents
Pumpkin seeds contain sizable amounts of protein (35%) and approximately 50% fatty oil, whose fatty acid profile is dominated by unsaturated fatty acids, namely linoleic and oleic acid. There are many trace constituents like tocopherols (0.1%) and phytosterols (total 0.1 to 0.5%); of the latter group, many are specific for the family of even the species.
The dark green colour of pumpkin seed oil is caused by carotenoids (15 ppm, mostly lutein) and even more by porphyrines (13 ppm, mostly chlorophyll b and pheophytin a). Pumpkin seed oil stains have terminated the career of many garments, particularly shirts and ties; the stains, however, pale quickly (though not always completely) in direct sunlight.
 The flavour of pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil develops in a toasting procedure, which is applied to the seeds immediately before extracting the oil. In this process, a multitude of volatile, flavourful compounds forms via the Maillard reaction. There is little scientific research in that field, but it seems that the most important flavour contributions come from pyrazines, e.g., 2,6-dimethylpyrazine.
How to store the oil
Pumpkinseed oil is very sensitive to light. Keep it cool but not too cold. Always keep it protected from light.
By the way: Styrian Pumpkinseed Oil is free of cholesterol!
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