application/pdf 540949 bytes Mijic, Milorad Vlaisavljevic Krstic, Sanja Nacka-Aleksić, Mirjana Jovanović, Aleksandra Dekanski, Dragana Antic Stankovic, Jelena Bozic, Dragana Jovanović Krivokuća, Milica Bojić-Trbojević, Žanka Pirković, Andrea info:eu-repo/semantics/article Taylor & Francis 2025 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Biological activity of pumpkin pulp extracts: cytoprotection, anti-inflammatory effects, and photoprotection in human skin cells startpage: 1 endpage: 14 Pumpkin pulp; keratinocytes; cytotoxicity; oxidative stress; pro-inflammatory cytokines https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:36886 doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/15569527.2025.2570195 Background: Pumpkin extracts are rich in vitamins and bioactive compounds, offering antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing properties, making them valuable in dermatology and cosmetics; however, pumpkin pulp extracts have not been evaluated before for their cutaneous biological activities. Methods and results: This study evaluated the biological activity of methanolic pumpkin pulp extracts from six Serbian accessions of Cucurbita (C.) maxima and C. moschata on normal keratinocytes (HaCaT) and melanoma (FemX) cells. The extracts showed no cytotoxicity to normal cells up to 1000 μg/mL and exhibited concentration-dependent cytotoxicity to melanoma cells(determined by MTT assay). They also demonstrated antioxidative effects against H2O2-induced oxidative stress in H2DCFDA assay, and reduced tumor necrosis factor -α/interferon-gamma-γ-induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukine-1β in HaCaT cells, as shown in the cell-based ELISA assay. Sun protection factor (SPF) calculations for all six accessions confirmed the photoprotective potential of the extracts, with noticeable differences in SPF values between species and varieties. The highest SPF value was observed in the C. moschata variety. Conclusion: Significant variations in biological activities among the examined accessions were noted, with C. maxima extracts showing pronounced antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties while C. moschata extract showed the highest SPF values. These findings represent the first report on the skin-beneficial effects of pumpkin pulp extracts, identifying them as sustainable sources of safe, bioactive compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and photoprotective properties for dermatological or cosmetic applications. Biological activity of pumpkin pulp extracts: cytoprotection, anti-inflammatory effects, and photoprotection in human skin cells