Pumpkin Seed Oil
INCI Cucurbita Pepo Seed Oil. CAS 8016-49-7, 89998-03-8; EC 289-741-0, as CosIng gives them. Also: Cucurbita pepo seed oil, Styrian pumpkin seed oil, Kürbiskernöl, Pepita oil.
Published values
| Saponification value | 186–193 mg KOH/g (typical 188.3) |
| Used by the calculator | 188.3 mg KOH/g (typical) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1342 g/g |
| Iodine value | 110–133.21 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 67 |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | 1–1.5 % |
Soapmaking books print about 0.134 g NaOH per g (median of 4 books), which agrees with ours to within 2 %.
A bar made of 100 % Pumpkin Seed Oil
Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.
How much lye
| Oil | NaOH | KOH |
|---|---|---|
| 500 g | 63.8 g(63.0–65.4) | 89.4 g(88.4–91.7) |
| 1 kg | 127.5 g(126.0–130.7) | 178.9 g(176.7–183.4) |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 57.8 g(57.1–59.3) | 81.1 g(80.2–83.2) |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 115.7 g(114.3–118.6) | 162.3 g(160.3–166.3) |
For this oil alone at 5 % superfat, with pure sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or pure potassium hydroxide (KOH); in brackets, across the published range of its saponification value. KOH is usually sold at 90 %: divide by 0.9. For a whole recipe, open the calculator.
Fatty-acid profile
Saturated : unsaturated 18 : 82
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 10.74–11.83 (typical 11.68) | 11.7 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 5.9–15.48 (typical 5.9) | 5.9 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 31.3–35.38 (typical 31.3) | 31.3 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 37.88–50.49 (typical 50.49) | 50.5 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 0.21–0.66 (typical 0.21) | 0.2 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 · saturated | 0.42 | 0.4 |
Where these numbers come from
Table 2 quality indicators (acid value, peroxide value, anisidine value) and Table 4 fatty-acid composition of the Styrian C. pepo var. oleifera oil.
Table 2 saponification value, iodine value, acid value, peroxide value per extraction method; Table 1 fatty-acid composition.
Table 1 row 'Pumpkin seed oil': iodine value 110-125, saponification value 186-193, unsaponifiable 1.0-1.5 %, density 0.912-0.918 (review's reference [40]).
Three open-access documents. (1) PRIMARY, Molecules 2026: one cold-pressed oil from Austrian-grown Cucurbita pepo var. oleifera (Styrian oil pumpkin, 'Gleisdorfer Oelkuerbis'); Table 4 fatty acids palmitic 11.68, stearic 5.90, oleic 31.30, linoleic 50.49, alpha-linolenic 0.21, arachidic 0.42 % (others not detected); Table 2 acid value 1.23 mg KOH/g, peroxide value 5.43 meq O2/kg. These are the 'typical' values in this record because they are the only ones explicitly from C. pepo. That paper did not measure saponification or iodine value. (2) ADDITIONAL, Foods 2023 (Chinese commercial pumpkin seeds, species not stated): Table 2 saponification value 188.3 +/- 2.14 (cold press), 190.2 (microwave press), 188.9 (supercritical CO2) mg KOH/g; iodine value 129.36 / 128.97 / 133.21, printed as 'mg I2/g' (numerically consistent with g I2/100 g); acid value 0.61-0.90 mg KOH/g; Table 1 fatty acids (cold press) palmitic 11.83, stearic 15.48, oleic 34.16, linoleic 37.88, linolenic 0.65 %. The SAP 'typical' (188.3) and the upper IV bound (133.21) come from this paper; note its much higher stearic and lower linoleic content than the Styrian C. pepo oil, so the fatty-acid min/max in this record span two different pumpkin sources. (3) ADDITIONAL, Frontiers in Nutrition 2026 systematic review, Table 1 row 'Pumpkin seed oil' (its reference [40]): saponification 186-193, iodine 110-125, unsaponifiable 1.0-1.5 %, density 0.912-0.918; these supply the SAP min/max, the IV lower bound and the unsaponifiable range. Melting point not given (liquid oil). INCI name from CosIng.
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