10/06/2006

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Chow Line: Preserve pumpkin properly (for 10/15/06)

Writer:

Martha Filipic
filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu
614-292-9833

Source:

Jaime Foster, Human Nutrition

For the first time, we grew pumpkins this year, and we have a bumper crop. Is it OK to can pumpkin like I do other vegetables?

Well, yes and no. Canning mashed or pureed pumpkin, like you find in the grocery store, isn't recommended. Studies dating to the late 1970s and mid-1990s demonstrated that there is just too much variability between batches of pureed or mashed pumpkin to be able to come up with standard processing times and procedures. That goes for any type of winter squash, and for pumpkin butter (pureed or mashed pumpkin with added sugar), too.

Since pumpkin and winter squash are low-acid foods, they pose a risk for Clostridium botulinum. If the bacteria is present and survives your home canning effort, and if the food has high enough water activity, then the bacteria can thrive and produce the toxin that causes botulism as it sits on your pantry shelf. That's not anything you want in your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

But you do have an alternative. If you have a pressure canner, you can preserve cubed pumpkin. Just wash the fruit, remove the seeds, cut into one-inch-wide slices, and peel. Then cut each slice into one-inch cubes, and boil for two minutes in water before canning. Specific directions are available in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's “Complete Guide to Home Canning,” or online at http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_04/pumpkin_winter_squash.html.

Or, even better, try freezing that pumpkin. Wash the squash and cut into sections, removing the seeds. Cook until soft -- you can boil, steam, bake or put them in a pressure cooker -- and then remove the rind and mash. Pack cooled pumpkin in leftover containers (be sure to leave space at the top for expansion) and put in the freezer until you're ready to use it. Experts say freezing pumpkin gives you a higher-quality product than canning, and it's easier, too.

Pumpkin, an orange vegetable, is also nutritious. A cup of boiled, drained, mashed pumpkin has about 50 calories, nearly 3 grams of fiber, less than a gram of fat, and a healthy dose of beta carotene (Vitamin A). The MyPyramid food guidelines recommend eating a wide variety of vegetables amounting to 2.5 to three cups each day, including 1.5 to two cups of orange vegetables per week.

Chow Line is a service of Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH, 43210-1044, or filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu.

This column was reviewed by Jaime Foster, registered dietitian and nutrition associate for Ohio State University Extension and the Department of Human Nutrition in the College of Education and Human Ecology.

To receive a PDF file of Chow Line via e-mail, contact Martha Filipic at filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu.