Zucchini Seed

Zucchini, also called courgette, is a cultivar group of Cucurbita pepo, a trailing or bushy annual with large, rough leaves and big yellow flowers. The fruit is normally picked immature, when the seeds are small, soft and edible. If left on the plant it grows into a huge, hard-skinned marrow with large, firm cream-coloured seeds, roughly 1 to 1.5 centimetres long, resembling pumpkin seeds. When dried and roasted they have a mild, nutty flavour with a little sweetness. The seed kernels are enclosed in a thin husk, which is chewable when roasted.

Cucurbita pepo was domesticated in Mexico and the southern United States thousands of years ago, among the oldest cultivated plants in the Americas. Early forms were grown for their seeds as well as their flesh. The modern zucchini, a long, narrow green summer squash, was developed in Italy in the nineteenth century from squash brought from the Americas, and its name comes from the Italian zucchino, a little squash. Today it is grown in temperate and subtropical regions worldwide, in home gardens as well as commercial farms.

Squash seeds were an important food in the Americas long before European contact, and archaeological remains of Cucurbita pepo seeds date back about 10,000 years in Mexico. They were eaten roasted, ground into sauces and pressed for oil. After the squash was introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century, most cooks focused on the flesh, and the seeds were largely discarded or used as a minor snack.

Zucchini became a popular vegetable in the United States and northern Europe in the twentieth century, when Italian immigrant gardeners spread it widely. Its famous productivity leaves many gardeners with overgrown marrows, and their seeds are sometimes saved and roasted as a way of avoiding waste, though zucchini are not grown specifically for seeds in the way that hull-less pumpkin varieties are. Seeds from hull-less Cucurbita pepo are a popular snack under the name pepitas.

Mature zucchini seeds are scooped from overgrown fruits, rinsed, dried, tossed with oil and salt or spices and roasted until crisp. They can be sprinkled over soups and salads, added to granola and baked goods, or ground into a paste. Fresh immature seeds are eaten along with the zucchini flesh in cooked dishes. Seeds can also be saved to plant next year, provided that the variety is open-pollinated and was isolated from other squashes.

Seeds of Cucurbita pepo are a source of plant protein, unsaturated fats, magnesium, zinc, iron and phosphorus. Compared with the flesh, which is mostly water, the seeds are concentrated and calorie dense. Figures here are based on hulled pumpkin-type seeds, as detailed data on zucchini seeds is scarce, and the nutrient content of home-roasted zucchini seeds will vary with size and maturity. A small handful is a reasonable portion in an overall balanced diet.