## 5 Cucurbita Plants for Industrial Purposes: Key Role as a Food Preservative  
Three main pumpkin varieties, including _C. pepo_, _C. maxima_, and _C. moschata_, are considered both as nutritional and medicinal foods in many countries [125]. Some biological activities are reported in pumpkins, among them antimicrobial activity [126; 127]. The reason why this plant show antimicrobial applications is related to its high vitamins content (mainly A and C), phenolic compounds, minerals, dietary fiber, amino acids and other advantageous compounds to humans. Indeed, antioxidant, antibacterial and intestinal antiparasitic activities are also part of the active function of this crop [125; 128]. Pumpkin extracts are rich in steroids, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and saponins, showing momentous antimicrobial and antifungal activity against some microorganisms [124; 129]. Based on [PERSON] et al. [130] study, the ethyl acetate extract of _C. maxima_ flowers has meaningful antifungal and antibacterial activity against some microorganisms, like _Escherichia coli_, _Salmonella typhi_, _Bacillus cereus_, _Enterobacter faecalis_, _Candida albicans_, and _Curularia lunata_. Nonetheless, the antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of pumpkin seeds have also been reported. The extracted oil from pumpkin seeds chiefly contains fatty acids, among them linoleic, oleic, palmitic and stearic acids. In addition, the oil is also full of tocopherols (\(\delta\)-tocopherol, \(\gamma\)-tocopherol, \(\beta\)-tocopherol and carotenoids, like lutein and \(\beta\)-carotene), characterized by displaying strong antioxidant effects. It is worth noting that pumpkin seeds oil can preserve lipids by having selenium,tocopherol, enzymes, hormones and vitamins. [PERSON] et al. [126] stated that pumpkin seed oil exhibits high antibacterial activity against _Staphylococcus aureus_, and pumpkin seeds are also able to markedly inhibit _Rhodorula rubra_ and _C. albicans_ growth at 0.5 mg/mL and 1.0 mg/mL, respectively [129]. Other research showed that _Bacillus subtilis_, _S. aureus_, _E. coli_ and _Klebsiella pneumonia_ are easily affected by the antibacterial properties of the methanolic extract from seed oil at 1.0 mg/mL, 2.0 mg/mL, 2.0 mg/mL and 3.0 mg/mL, respectively [127]. Moreover, the authors stated that the antibacterial activity is not the only property of the oil, since it also exerts a remarkable antifungal activity against _R. rubra_ and _C. albicans_, at concentrations of 0.5 mg/mL and 1.0 mg/mL, respectively. It has even been stated that there is a high susceptibility of _R. rubra_ to the seeds' oil. Still, researchers have stressed that 1.0 mg/mL of pumpkin oil seeds was effective against _Penicillium chrysogenum_ and _Aspergillus parasiticus_, and 2.0 mg/mL against _A. flavus_[127].  
Pumpkin rinds and leaves contain some special bioactive proteins, which have shown preservative effects. For example, pumpkin leaves contain the PR-5 antifungal protein [131], highly homologous to thaumatin. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of this protein, besides the synergistic effect of nikkomycin against _C. albicans_ development, has been proved. Moreover, the growth and survival of the phytopathogenic bacteria _Erwinia amylova_, _P Phytophthorahora infestans_ and _Pseudomonas solanacearum_ is prohibited by a ribosome-inactivating protein purified from _C. moschata_[132]. Black pumpkin seeds have another component, named cucurmoschin and identified as an antifungal peptide abundant in glycine, arginine, and glutamate residues. Additionally, [PERSON] and et al. [133] found two novel antifungal proteins (Pr-1 and Pr-2) from pumpkin rinds that showed strong in vitro antifungal activity against _Botrytis cinerea_, _Colletotrichum cococodes_, _Fusarium solani_, _F. oxysporum_, and _Trichoderma harzianum_ at 10-20 uM.