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The Good Oil On Pumpkin

It’s no secret that the averages of the people have cholesterol levels that are too high.
“We gobble down too much fatty and high-calorie food.”
The fatty substances in human blood are determined by the ratio of “good” cholesterol HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) and “bad” cholesterol LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein).
The good news is that there’s help at hand from the simple pumpkin seed.
Pumpkin Seed Oil from the specific pumpkin variety “Cucurbita Pepo var. Styriaca” and the shell-less pumpkin seeds of the same pumpkin variety are an extremely worthy part of healthy nourishment.
“Did you know that Pumpkin Seed Oil has therapeutic and healthy effects when treating hardening oft the arteries (arteriosclerosis)?
 “Would you chew crunchy shell-less pumpkin seeds knowing they have positive health effects?”
A study with the main focus on cooking and salad oil found out those vegetable fatty substances, especially the Phytosterols which are concentrated in a high amount in this kind of certified organic Pumpkin Seed Oil, shows positive effects on human cholesterol.
“These Phytosterols can only be found in natural vegetable oils which have not been refined, heated up to 250oC, bleached or stabilised.
“The study found the composition of fatty acids of cold pressed certified organic Pumpkin Seed Oil reduces LDL-cholesterol.
“The precious linoleic acid contained in Pumpkin Seed Oil and Pumpkin Seeds of the var. Styriaca Pumpkin is not produced by the human body and therefore has to be supplied by food.”
The healing qualities of Pumpkin Seed Oil have been recorded over several centuries.
The article was published in the scientific magazine “Uni-Zeit” of the Karl Franzens University of Graz Australia.

Jurg Jutzi
Director
Australian Tropical Products
December 2007

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Bamboo Shoots – A new taste for a staple food.
 
Approximately 20 million tonnes of bamboo harvested throughout the world annually.

Imagine a plant so versatile that it can be used at as:
ג  A valuable, nutritious food source
ג  A building materials for home or garden
ג  Furniture and musical instruments
ג  Paper, rope, garments and reinforcement for concrete.

Bamboo shoots provide nutrition for millions of people worldwide.  There is nothing new or novel about eating bamboo shoots
  
Bamboo is the fastest growing, most versatile woody plant in the world and its stands release 35% more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees.  Some bamboo varieties even sequester up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide from the air per hectare. In Australian Tropical Queensland, the edible shoots are produced between December and April.  When the plant has reached maturity, the rhizome (the name given to the shoot before it appears above the ground) will surface suddenly and within one or two weeks, develop into a marketable shoot.

Bamboo is an exquisite component of landscape design.  For the human environment, bamboo provides food, shade, wind break, acoustical barriers and aesthetic beauty.

Written by Viv and Susan Stephens from Asper Park, Atherton QLD

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