Pumpkin is a truly unique vegetable with many healing properties. In its pulp contains a large number of valuable substances:
- vitamin C - to maintain health in the cold season;
- vitamins of group B - help to remove fatigue, irritability, insomnia, cleanse the face of acne, strengthen nails, give shine and silky hair;
- vitamins A and E prevent the premature appearance of wrinkles;
- very rare vitamin K - promotes blood clotting;
- Vitamin T is also not often found in other vegetables. It is interesting for those who are trying to lose weight, as it helps to absorb heavy food and thereby prevents obesity;
- among vegetables pumpkin is the champion in iron content. Therefore, everyone who has a pumpkin is a frequent guest on the table, has a good complexion and always has a wonderful mood;
- Pumpkin juice is useful for maintaining male health and sexuality;
- Pumpkin seeds have long been part of the love potion.
Considering all the above, a natural question arises: how to store the pumpkin correctly.
Let's consider several options for saving such a valuable vegetable.
How to store a pumpkin in your own house in the winter?
If you yourself have grown a pumpkin on your land, it is worth taking care of its safety until the spring. To do this, it is removed from the beds around mid-September, in dry weather, preferably before the first autumn frosts. Pumpkin is torn from the bush along with a small peduncle, which should be dry and stiff.
For the peduncle it is better not to take, especially in large and heavy fruits, as it can break off, and from the broken place can begin the process of decaying the vegetable. Pumpkin, preparing for storage, dried in the sun for a week. If, during harvesting, the surface of the pumpkin is scratched, grooves and shallow scratches can be healed by pasting on them bactericidal patches. Dry in a dry place, protected from moisture. When the bark of the pumpkin hardens, the fruits are transferred to a dry and dark storage place with the desired temperature of 15-20 degrees.
How to store a pumpkin in an apartment?
In the conditions of a city apartment store as unripe fruits, they reach full ripeness for 1-2 months, and completely ripe. In the winter months, for a pumpkin, a corner is set in a dark pantry where there is no access to sunlight.
From time to time, the fruit should be inspected. When there are signs of rotting, the affected areas are cut to healthy tissues and the slices are burned with a candle flame. Cropped fruits are eaten first.
How to store a cut pumpkin?
The cut pumpkin flesh can be put in the refrigerator for several weeks, but no more, otherwise the rotting process will begin and the product will have to be discarded.
For longer preservation, the pumpkin cut into pieces, thoroughly dried, packed in plastic bags in batches of 300-600 g and sent to the freezer. Packages should be packed as tightly as possible without air bubbles. Instead of conventional plastic bags, you can buy special bags and trays for freezing in the store.
In winter, as necessary, the cut pumpkin is thawed in several ways:
- in the refrigerator for about 10-12 hours;
- in the room - 4-5 hours;
- in a microwave oven or in an oven;
- in a bowl with warm or hot water, while avoiding the ingress of water into the bag with the frozen product.
Having learned simple rules on how to store a pumpkin in the winter, you can provide yourself and your family with a useful and valuable product until the summer, by cooking pumpkin in the oven or in any other interesting way.