By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Creating a jack-o’-lantern involves a lot of carving and the discarding of handfuls of unwanted seed. But The Ohio State University researchers are working with growers and Innovative Farmers of Ohio to select pumpkin varieties that yield good seeds for roasting.

In the long run, they say this could lead to added income opportunities for farmers and a new niche market. And, a new love for these once-despised seeds.

“Sunflower seeds have become a huge snack food seller and we’re hoping the same for certain varieties of pumpkin seeds,” said Jim Jasinski, an OSU extension educator with the Integrated Pest Management Program.
Supported by an Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) specialty crop grant, the project began in 2009 with the planting of 15 pumpkin varieties. This year, the five varieties with the best traits for pumpkin seed production were selected and planted at the university’s Western Agricultural Research Station in South Charleston, and at two grower sites in the area.

 “We harvested the pumpkins and took them to the pilot plant at the Food Industries Center on the OSU campus, where the seeds were extracted, cleaned, dried, roasted and seasoned,” Jasinski said. “At this time we’re entering our consumer evaluation phase, where samples will be handed out to see what people think of them.”

Jasinski and researchers came up with a hull-less variety of seed that is viable. They’re now looking for any major insect or disease issues with these varieties.
“We’ll next look at the fruit yield and from there we’ll take that yield to the pilot plant,” he said. “If all goes well, we’ll eventually package the seeds. We’re also looking at the costs involved to see if this is feasible.

“The whole purpose of this effort was to raise pumpkins not for jack-o’-lanterns but for edible seeds. That first year we ran a cultivar trial on squash and pumpkins to see which might produce seed that had the most potential for this project.”

According to Jasinski, there are two ways to process pumpkin seeds. “There’s a manual route and a very mechanized route when dealing with these seeds,” he said. “We used manpower during our study. Doing things by hand was a huge undertaking. We were dealing with 25,000 pounds of fruit per acre which had to be harvested, split, cleaned and dried, all by hand. It was very intense.
“So, by doing this manually it would take 300 hours of manual labor to process one acre of seed. This comes out to about 500 to 1,200 pounds of dried seed to sell. It would be best to do this in a mechanized way and on a much larger scale.”

According to Jasinski, of concern is the time involved before the seed reaches the market, whether that market is large or small.

“We’re thinking growers would be doing this sort of thing on the side and on a small scale, using about one-half acre,” Jasinski said. “One grower or group of growers could sell their seed to their own small market, or perhaps they could sell to other states, but our labor-intensive models show it won’t be economical unless you’re involved in a large-scale production of the seed.”

Jasinski admits pumpkin seeds could rival sunflower seeds as a snack food, but advises individual growers to look at this as a large-scale undertaking if a profit is to be made.

“On a big scale one will have to sit down and consider the entire mechanization model and if it works for you,” he said. “They do have pumpkin combines that pick up the fruit, crush it, knock the seeds out by tumbling the fruit and discards the fruit right back onto the field. The seed itself gets captured and then hyper-washed.”

Sheryl Barringer, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at OSU, is looking at the texture and flavor of seeds from the various pumpkin varieties involved in the study.

“We want a nice, crisp, crunchy texture and a nice, nutty flavor,” she said. “Then we add different flavorings and see what combinations people like better.”

The researchers have found that some pumpkin varieties are ideal for both pie filling and roasted seeds.

“This is great news because it would allow farmers to sell both flesh and seeds and make twice as much profit,” Barringer said. “This would help diversity their operation and make them more financially sustainable.”

According to Barringer, researchers have already been in conversations with a purchaser that is interested in buying more locally raised seeds for snack foods. Currently, that purchaser imports a good portion of its pumpkin seeds from abroad.

“So there’s definitely a market and a demand for pumpkin seeds,” Barringer said. “If we can get Ohio farmers to grow some of these pumpkin varieties and extract the seeds instead of throwing them away, there could be quite a big opportunity for profit.

“It would be hard to have a mass market for the seeds alone, but if one is going to grow them anyway for pumpkin pies, there is a market.”
According to the USDA, Ohio pumpkin growers harvested 7,500 acres in 2010 (up from 1,400 acres a year earlier), worth an estimated $22.5 million. This figure alone has researchers and pumpkin producers excited about this fruit and its seed.

“The real demand comes from the health-conscious people,” Barringer said. “These people view the pumpkin seeds as healthier than other snacks. We recently spoke with one health food company that is getting its  seeds from China because they can’t find a local source. Someone needs to be doing this, and why not the Ohio growers?”

Once consumer evaluations have been completed, a manual with all the research findings will be available to all farmers throughout the state. For more information about the project, contact Jasinski by e-mail at jasinski.4@osu.edu