Pumpkin

What exactly is a pumpkin? A vegetable or fruit? While most people in India would bet on it as a vegetable but technically speaking it’s a fruit.

A fruit is defined as being the part of the plant which contains seeds. The average pumpkin contains about a cup of seeds, so they are most definitely a fruit.

The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for “large melon” which is “pepon.” “Pepon” was changed by the French into “pompon.” The English changed “pompon” to “Pumpion.” American colonists changed “pumpion” into “pumpkin.”

People use pumpkin to make jack-o-lanterns at Halloween in West but initially the Irish hollowed out Turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets for Halloween but owing to the easiness to carve out, pumpkin took the place in history.