La produzione dell'Olio di semi di zucca stiriano IGP

The Seeds

Pumpkinseed oil is made of the skinless seeds of a special type of pumpkin, the Styrian Oil Pumpkin (lat. Cucurbita pepo. Var. styriaca, also known as var. oleifera).

The special feature of this pumpkin type are his non-stringy seed skins.

The Sowing

During the first weeks of May the seed is sown.

The Growing

The so called “Styrian Wine Climate” and the clay soil in southeastern Austria (Styria, Southern Burgenland) provides perfect growing conditions for the oil pumpkin. Here it ripes all summer long with much sun.

Statistics says this area is one of the sunniest regions of Europe.

The Harvesting

The harvest and even more the handling of the pumpkin seeds is very sumptuous. To the bottled pumpkinseed oil its still a long way: The seeds are peeled out of the pulp mostly manually. This process only can take some weeks.The peeling is often a family celebration in the field with grandmother and grandchild working together.

Meanwhile a lot of farmers use machines for this process, but if you drive through Styria, you still often see people peeling pumpkins.

Milling and Roasting

Cleaned and sorted seeds are now dried, ground and roasted with stirring permanently.

This (secret) process preserves the oil and brings out its unique nutty taste.

The roast process is crucial. Some minutes or some degrees more, and the taste is completely different. Like coffee is getting different tastes by roasting, also here it is a question of the roaster’s expierience, and of course a question of the traditional secret recipe.

The Oil Pressing

This mash now is the basis for the oil pressing process.

With a pressure of around 300 bar it is pressed.

The Birth

Finally the first drops emerge dark green spreading a warm, nutty aroma, out of the press pipe:

The Pumpkin Seed Oil