Editing Cucurbita (section)

== Toxicity ==
[[Cucurbitin]] is an [[amino acid]] and a [[carboxy]][[pyrrolidine]] that is found in raw ''Cucurbita'' seeds.<ref name="pierce">{{cite book |last=Peirce |first=Andrea |url=https://archive.org/details/americanpharmace00peir/page/212 |title=The American Pharmaceutical Association Practical Guide to Natural Medicines |publisher=Stonesong Press, William Morrow & Co. |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-688-16151-4 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanpharmace00peir/page/212 212–214]}}</ref><ref name="mihranian">{{cite journal |last1=Mihranian |first1=Valentine H. |last2=Abou-Chaar |first2=Charles I. |year=1968 |title=Extraction, Detection, and Estimation of Cucurbitin in ''Cucurbita'' Seeds |journal=Lloydia |publisher=American Society of Pharmacognosy |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=23–29}}</ref> It retards the development of parasitic [[Trematoda|flukes]] when administered to infected host mice, although the effect is seen only if administration begins immediately after infection.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Herbal_-_HMPC_assessment_report/2011/10/WC500116579.pdf |title=Assessment report on ''Cucurbita pepo'' L. |date=13 September 2011 |publisher=Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC), European Medicines Agency |pages=25–26 |access-date=21 November 2015 |archive-date=22 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122030434/http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Herbal_-_HMPC_assessment_report/2011/10/WC500116579.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Cucurmosin]] is a [[ribosome inactivating protein]] found in the flesh and seed of ''Cucurbita'',<ref name="preedy">{{cite book |last1=Preedy |first1=Victor R. |title=Nuts and Seeds in Health and Disease Prevention |last2=Watson |first2=Ronald Ross |last3=Patel |first3=Vinwood B. |publisher=Academic Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-12-375688-6 |location=London |page=936}}</ref><ref name="barbieri">{{cite journal |last1=Barbieri |first1=L. |last2=Polito |first2=L. |last3=Bolognesi |first3=A. |last4=Ciani |first4=M. |last5=Pelosi |first5=E. |last6=Farini |first6=V. |last7=Jha |first7=A. K. |last8=Sharma |first8=N. |last9=Vivanco |first9=J. M. |last10=Chambery |first10=A. |last11=Parente |first11=A. |last12=Stirpe |first12=F. |date=May 2006 |title=Ribosome-inactivating Proteins in Edible Plants and Purification and Characterization of a New Ribosome-inactivating Protein From ''Cucurbita moschata'' |journal=Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects |volume=1760 |issue=5 |pages=783–792 |doi=10.1016/j.bbagen.2006.01.002 |pmid=16564632}}</ref> notably ''[[Cucurbita moschata]]''.

[[Cucurbitacin]] is a [[steroid|plant steroid]] present in wild ''Cucurbita'' and in each member of the family ''Cucurbitaceae''. Poisonous to mammals,<ref name="tallamy" /> it is found in quantities sufficient to discourage herbivores. It makes wild ''Cucurbita'' and most ornamental gourds, with the exception of an occasional ''C.&nbsp;fraterna'' and ''C.&nbsp;sororia'', bitter to taste.<ref name="burrows" /><ref name="andres2" /><ref name="vidal">{{cite book |title=Western Corn Rootworm: Ecology and Management |publisher=CAB International |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-85199-817-6 |editor-last=Vidal |editor-first=S. |location=Wallingford, UK |pages=67–71 |chapter=4 |doi=10.1079/9780851998176.0000 |chapter-url=http://web.missouri.edu/~hibbardb/CV_files/Tallamy%20et%20al%20chap04%20proof.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129042743/http://web.missouri.edu/~hibbardb/CV_files/Tallamy%20et%20al%20chap04%20proof.pdf |archive-date=2014-11-29 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Ingesting too much cucurbitacin can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea and even collapse.<ref name="Chen">{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Jian Chao |last2=Chiu |first2=Ming Hua |last3=Nie |first3=Rui Lin |last4=Cordell |first4=Geoffrey A. |last5=Qui |first5=Samuel X. |year=2005 |title=Cucurbitacins and Cucurbitane Glycosides: Structures and Biological Activities |journal=Natural Product Reports |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=386–399 |doi=10.1039/B418841C |pmid=16010347}}</ref> This bitterness is especially prevalent in wild ''Cucurbita''; in parts of Mexico, the flesh of the fruits is rubbed on a woman's breast to wean children.<ref name="wean">{{cite web |last=Merrick |first=Laura C. |title=Natural Hybridization of Wild ''Cucurbita sororia'' Group and Domesticated ''C. mixta'' in Southern Sonora, Mexico |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc07/cgc7-32.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906112801/http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc07/cgc7-32.html |archive-date=September 6, 2006 |access-date=November 24, 2014 |publisher=North Carolina State University}}</ref> While the process of domestication has largely removed the bitterness from cultivated varieties,<ref name="burrows" /> there are occasional reports of cucurbitacin causing illness in humans.<ref name="burrows" /> Cucurbitacin is also used as a lure in insect traps.<ref name="vidal" />