In an interesting study completed recently in China, it was found that Cucurbita ficifolia is useful in lowering blood sugar in rats with induced diabetes. Cucurbita ficifolia also is known as the Shark Finn Melon or an Asian Pumpkin.

I found it amazing that this article was reported by some mainstream news as simply a pumpkin. It wasn’t until I found the actual abstract of the research that contained the exact name of this so called pumpkin that I realized it was basically misreported. That is too bad, because this melon looks like it has some great qualities. If you read the entire abstract you can see that they believe the higher plasma insulin levels was produced by actually more B-Cell mass, meaning that this shark fin melon demonstrated regenerative properties on the mice.

Hypoglycaemic role of Cucurbita ficifolia (Cucurbitaceae) fruit extract in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

I have found no source for ordering this type of melon, but I read about it and it is similar to spaghetti squash in its texture and how you cook it. If anyone knows where to order it, please let me know in a comment to this post.