Pumpkin leaves: a leafy green that research has barely touched

The strongest evidence on this page is about leafy greens in general, and it is modest. In a 10-week randomized trial in breastfeeding women in rural Vietnam, beta-carotene from local green leafy vegetables delivered only 21 percent of the vitamin A activity assumed for it (95% CI 7 to 35 percent), and those leaves were not necessarily pumpkin. In 19 Thai women, calcium from ivy gourd, a different leafy vegetable, was absorbed at a fraction of 0.476 against 0.552 from milk in a single test meal, with phytate, oxalate and fiber partly accounting for the gap. We found no trial that fed people pumpkin leaves. The one study that names them, a survey of 2,947 school students in Burkina Faso, linked eating them with 23 percent lower odds of anemia (adjusted odds ratio 0.77, 95% CI 0.605 to 0.974). That is a single cross-sectional survey that did not measure how much was eaten, and household wealth may explain part of it.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Per 100 g, raw pumpkin leaves in the USDA reference record carry 2.22 mg of iron, 11 mg of vitamin C, 436 mg of potassium and 97 micrograms RAE of vitamin A. — USDA SR Legacy record, pumpkin leaves, raw; no sample spread (n = 1 record) Evidence E source
  Iron 2.22 mg, vitamin C 11 mg, potassium 436 mg, vitamin A 97 ug RAE, copper 0.133 mg, magnesium 38 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What a real portion looks like

• The US survey database has no separate entry for pumpkin leaves: they sit in a mixed cooked-leaves item with a 69 g cup, listed at 0.61 mg of iron per 3.5 oz (100 g), five times below the USDA boiled pumpkin leaf record. — USDA FNDDS food code 72133201, sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, chrysanthemum or bean leaves, cooked (n = 2 portion measures) Evidence E source
  1 cup 69 g, 0.4 mg iron; iron 0.61 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g) versus 3.2 mg in USDA boiled pumpkin leaves

What your body absorbs

• In a 10-week trial in breastfeeding women in Vietnam, beta-carotene from green leafy vegetables worked at only 21% of the vitamin A activity assumed, needing 28 micrograms per microgram of retinol. — breastfeeding women in 9 rural communes in Vietnam; vegetable group n = 73 ingesting 5.6 mg beta-carotene/d from green leafy vegetables, 6 d/wk for 10 wk (n = 280) Evidence B source
  Serum retinol +0.09 umol/L (95% CI 0.03 to 0.16) with leafy vegetables vs +0.25 with retinol-rich foods; 28:1 conversion (95% CI 17 to 84)
• In 19 Thai women, calcium from a green leafy vegetable (ivy gourd) was absorbed at 0.476 versus 0.552 from milk, about 86% as well, with phytate, oxalate and fiber partly to blame. — 19 healthy adult women aged 20 to 45 y, randomized-order crossover, 100 mg calcium load labeled with 44Ca (n = 19) Evidence B source
  Fractional calcium absorption 0.476 ivy gourd, 0.391 winged bean, 0.552 milk

What cooking and storage change

• In the USDA records, boiling and draining takes pumpkin leaves from 11 mg to about 1 mg of vitamin C per 3.5 oz (100 g), while iron per 3.5 oz (100 g) rises to 3.2 mg as the leaves lose water. — USDA SR Legacy records for pumpkin leaves: raw, and cooked, boiled, drained with and without salt (n = 3 records) Evidence E source
  Vitamin C 11 to 1 mg; iron 2.22 to 3.2 mg; vitamin A 97 to 80 ug RAE per 3.5 oz (100 g)
• By the USDA retention table for greens boiled in a little water and drained, leaves keep about 60% of vitamin C and 65% of folate, but 95% of iron, calcium and magnesium. — USDA retention factors for the food group vegetables, method greens boiled in little water, drained Evidence E source
  Retained: vitamin C 60%, folate 65%, thiamin 85%, potassium 90%, iron 95%, calcium 95%, magnesium 95%

What it does to your health

• Observational data from 2,947 school students in Burkina Faso link eating pumpkin leaves with 23% lower odds of anemia. — 2947 students aged 10-18 years in Center West Burkina Faso, surveyed January to March 2021 (n = 2947) Evidence C source
  AOR 0.77 (95% CI 0.605 to 0.974) for anemia
• Pooled observational data link every 100 g a day of green leafy vegetables with about 25% lower risk of death, coronary heart disease and stroke, with a caution about E. coli contamination. — 24 meta-analyses with 29 health outcomes on green leafy vegetables and lutein (n = 24 meta-analyses) Evidence C source
  About 25% lower risk per 100 g/d for all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease and stroke

Safety, limits and interactions

• For people on warfarin, a systematic review of 2 diet trials and 9 observational studies found that dietary vitamin K1 may affect clotting only at intakes above about 150 micrograms a day. — patients on vitamin K antagonists in 2 dietary interventional trials and 9 observational studies (n = 11 studies) Evidence C source
  Effect on coagulation possibly only above 150 ug/day vitamin K1; median intakes 76 to 217 ug/day across studies

What people believe that the data does not support

• No trial in our corpus has fed people pumpkin leaves, and neither the US nor the EU claim register names them. — Layers searched on 2026-10-02 for pumpkin leaves, Cucurbita, dark green leafy vegetables: USDA composition, CoFID, FNDDS, USDA retention R6, NHANES, 21 CFR 101, EU claim register, ODS, WHO, agency reports, drug interaction layer, ClinicalTrials.gov, PubMed corpus version pubmed:469432 (n = 1 corpus record under the entity name) Evidence E source
  Zero trials, zero US or EU claims, zero CoFID records, one cross-sectional study

The bottom line

Here is what the USDA reference record shows for the raw leaf, a single entry with no sample spread and no named Cucurbita species: 2.22 mg iron, 11 mg vitamin C, 436 mg potassium and 97 micrograms RAE vitamin A per 3.5 oz (100 g). Boiling and draining drops vitamin C to about 1 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g). Iron per 3.5 oz (100 g) rises to 3.2 mg, partly because the leaves lose water. The USDA retention table for boiled greens, set for the whole group in 1975, keeps about 60 percent of vitamin C and 95 percent of iron. Portions are harder. The US survey database lumps pumpkin leaves with sweet potato, squash, chrysanthemum and bean leaves at 0.61 mg iron per 3.5 oz (100 g), five times below the boiled record, and we cannot tell which figure is closer to the leaf on your plate. A 69 g cup of that mixed item lists 0.4 mg iron. Across 24 meta-analyses, mostly of cohorts, each 100 g a day of green leafy vegetables went with roughly 25 percent lower risk of death, coronary heart disease and stroke. That is an association, and pumpkin leaves were never counted separately. The same review warned about contamination of leafy greens with E. coli. If you take warfarin, a systematic review of 2 diet trials and 9 observational studies found that vitamin K1 from food may affect clotting only at intakes above about 150 micrograms a day. We have no vitamin K figure for pumpkin leaves. We also found nothing on their safety in pregnancy, on their nitrate or oxalate content, or on how well the body takes up their iron.

Sources

1. pmkl-r8-01 · food composition data
   Pumpkin leaves, raw, FDC 169272 (SR Legacy), per 100 g: Iron 2.22 mg · Vitamin C 11 mg · Potassium 436 mg · Vitamin A, RAE 97 ug · Copper 0.133 mg · Magnesium 38 mg
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy FDC 169272 · checked 2026-10-02
2. pmkl-r8-04 · portion data
   Sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, chrysanthemum, or bean leaves, cooked, FNDDS 72133201, fdc_id 2709642: 1 cup 69 g, Iron 0.4 MG · Quantity not specified 35 g · Iron, Fe 0.61 MG per 100 g
   USDA FNDDS, food code 72133201, FDC 2709642 · checked 2026-10-02
3. pmkl-r8-06 · RCT
   the equivalent of 1 microg retinol would be 12 microg beta-carotene (95% CI: 8, 22 microg) for fruit and 28 microg beta-carotene (17, 84 microg) for green leafy vegetables. Thus, apparent mean vitamin A activity of carotenoids in fruit and in leafy vegetables was 50% (95% CI: 27%, 75%) and 21% (7%, 35%), respectively, of that assumed.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2007 · checked 2026-10-02
4. pmkl-r8-07 · randomized crossover trial
   Fractional calcium absorption (X+/- SD) was 0.391 +/- 0.128 from winged beans, 0.476 +/- 0.109 from ivy gourd, and 0.552 +/- 0.119 from milk...The difference was partly accounted for by the phytate, oxalate, and dietary fiber content of the vegetables.
   J Food Sci, 2008 · checked 2026-10-02
5. pmkl-r8-02 · food composition data
   Pumpkin leaves, raw / Pumpkin leaves, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt / with salt (SR Legacy), per 100 g across 3 records: Iron 2.22-3.2 mg · Vitamin C 1-11 mg · Vitamin A, RAE 80-97 ug
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy pumpkin leaves raw (FDC 169272) and boiled, drained · checked 2026-10-02
6. pmkl-r8-03 · retention factor data
   USDA-RETN-R6:3004 VEG,GREENS,BOILD,LITTLE WATER DRAIN (Vegetables and Vegetable Products, group 11): vitamin_c_mg 60% · folate_total_ug 65% · thiamin_mg 85% · potassium_mg 90% · calcium_mg 95% · iron_mg 95% · magnesium_mg 95%
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007), code 3004 · checked 2026-10-02
7. pmkl-r8-05 · cross-sectional
   Among iron-rich foods, tamarind (aOR = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.610, 0.929) and pumpkin leaves (aOR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.605, 0.974) were associated with lower odds of anaemia.
   Matern Child Nutr, 2025 · checked 2026-10-02
8. pmkl-r8-08 · umbrella review
   Dose-response analyses revealed that, per 100 g/d GLV intake was associated with a decreased risk (ca. 25%) of all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease and stroke...Caution was warranted for contamination with potentially pathogenic organisms, specifically Escherichia coli.
   Food Chem, 2021 · checked 2026-10-02
9. pmkl-r8-09 · systematic review
   Median dietary intake of vitamin K1 ranged from 76 to 217 μg/day among studies, and an effect on coagulation may be detected only for high amount of vitamin intake (>150 μg/day).
   Medicine (Baltimore), 2016 · checked 2026-10-02
10. pmkl-r8-10 · search record
    pumpkin leaves: corpus records 1 (cross-sectional) · trials 0 · CoFID 0 · 21 CFR 101 0 · EU register 0 · ODS 0 · WHO 0 · agency reports 0 · interaction layer 0 · ClinicalTrials.gov 0
    Bioma research layers, snapshot 2026-10-02 · checked 2026-10-02