352 
Pumpkin  Seed  Oil. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1901. 
PUMPKIN  SEED  OIL. 
By  Wizard  Graham,  P.D. 
Pumpkin  Seed  Oil  as  found  in  commerce  varies  in  quality  and  is 
generally,  if  not  always,  obtained  by  the  use  of  a  solvent.  The 
expressed  oil  is  not  used  to  any  great  extent,  as  the  extracted  oil  is 
cheaper. 
A  quantity  of  whole  seeds  were  ground  and  extracted  with 
acetone  ;  the  acetone  being  recovered  by  distillation.  The  yield 
was  25  per  cent,  of  an  oil  having  the  following  properties : 
A  clear  reddish  limpid  liquid  having  an  agreeble  odor  and  taste,  a 
specific  gravity  of  0  9208  at  1 50  C,  saponification  number  192- 5,  acid 
number  18-9,  ether  number  173  6,  soluble  in  all  proportions  of 
carbon  disulphide,  ether,  chloroform  and  in  twenty  parts  of  absolute 
alcohol,  drying  on  standing  to  a  tough  yellowish  transparent 
mass. 
A  commercial  oil  was  obtained  and  on  examination  gave  the 
following  results : 
A  clear  reddish  liquid  of  an  agreeable  odor  and  taste,  having  a 
specific  gravity  of  0-9197  at  1 50  C,  saponification  number  195-2, 
acid  number  3-5,  ether  number  191-7,  soluble  in  all  proportions  of 
carbon  disulphide,  ether,  chloroform,  and  in  twenty  parts  of  abso- 
lute alcohol. 
The  above  oils  having  been  obtained  by  extraction  it  was  deemed 
desirable  to  examine  an  oil  obtained  by  expression,  but  after  sub. 
jecting  a  quantity  of  ground  seeds  to  a  pressure  of  3,000  pounds,  no 
appreciable  quantity  of  oil  was  secured  on  account  of  the  porous 
condition  of  the  seeds. 
Benedikt  and  Lewkowitsch  in  their  "  oils,  fats  and  waxes  "  de- 
scribe it  as  an  oil  expressed  from  the  seed  of  Cucurbita  Pepo,  specific 
gravity  at  150  C,  09231,  saponification  number  1 88- 1,  iodine  value 
121,  solidifying  point — I5°C,  melting  point  of  mixed  fatty  acids 
28°  C. 
Caryone  Content  of  Volatile  Oils. — According  to  Kremers  {  Jour. 
Soc.  Ch.  Ind.,  January  31,  1901,)  the  determination  of  the  carvone  content  of 
volatile  oils,  containing  this  ketone,  as  carvoxime,  while  by  no  means  perfect, 
is  unquestionably  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  the  one  great  advantage  be- 
ing that  a  definite  crystalline  compound  is  weighed. 
