Waste Utilization in Cucurbits: A Review

Cucurbits are important group of vegetables due to their nutritional significance and their use in culinary and dessert purposes. But they produce large amount of waste both during consumption and processing owing to their thick rind and large seeds. These wastes generate potential problems for their treatment and disposal. They are of immense medicinal and food value and can be utilized in oil extraction and processing into products like pickle, preserve, pectin, candy, edible coating etc. These wastes are also potential raw material for biofuel production. Enzymes from cucurbit peel are utilized in detection and quantification of hazardous metals in industrial effluents and ground water. Much research has been carried out to investigate the conversion of these wastes into useful products or even its use as a raw material for other industries. The present review article aims to summarize various ways by which these wastes can be utilized.