Pumpkin Seed Oil Benefits: Hair, Prostate, and Not Roghan Kaddu
Pumpkin seed oil (kaddu ke beej ka tel) is the dark green oil pressed from pumpkin seeds, sold abroad as a salad oil and here mostly as a hair and prostate supplement. Two things worth knowing before you spend money: the hair-growth claim rests on one small trial, and the Hamdard bottle called Roghan Kaddu is not this oil at all.
The short version
- What it is: oil cold-pressed from the seeds of Cucurbita pepo, the common pumpkin
- Names: pumpkin seed oil, pumpkin oil, kaddu ke beej ka tel; no classical Unani or Arabic name, it is a modern supplement
- Forms: a bottled oil for food and hair, or softgel capsules
- Famous claims: hair regrowth, prostate symptoms in older men, “hormone balance”
- Honest summary: a good culinary oil with early, thin evidence for hair and prostate; not a replacement for a diagnosis
- Not the same as: Roghan Kaddu, which is bottle gourd (lauki) in sesame oil
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What pumpkin seed oil is, and where the good stuff comes from
Crack open a pumpkin seed and the kernel inside is roughly 40 to 50 per cent oil by weight. Press those kernels without heat and you get a thick, nutty oil that looks almost black in the bottle. Most of the world’s prized pumpkin seed oil comes from Styria in Austria and the neighbouring parts of Slovenia and Hungary, where farmers grow a special oil pumpkin.
That pumpkin matters. Between 1870 and 1880 a single gene mutation appeared in the region that stopped the seed from growing its hard white hull. The seed stays dark green and soft-skinned, so it can be pressed whole. Austrian growers say roughly 2.5 kg of these seeds, from about 30 to 40 pumpkins, give one litre of oil. The seeds are usually roasted lightly before pressing, which gives the famous nutty taste.
Our desi kaddu seeds have a thick hull. You would have to shell every one by hand before pressing, and the yield per kilo is lower. That is why “pumpkin seed oil at home” videos end with a few drops of cloudy oil and a wasted afternoon. Buy it; do not try to make it. If you want the seed itself rather than the oil, our kaddu ke beej roasting guide covers that.
The pour test that real oil passes
Genuine cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil is dichromatic: it looks deep green when you tilt a thin film of it on a white plate, and red-brown when you look through a full bottle or a thick pool. Physicists at the University of Ljubljana explained this in 2007; it comes from the oil’s pigments and how our eyes read colour at different thicknesses. A pale yellow or straw-coloured “pumpkin oil” has been refined, heavily diluted with a cheaper oil, or pressed from poor seed. The colour change is not a lab certificate, but an oil that fails it is not what you paid for.
Does pumpkin seed oil grow hair? What the one trial actually found
Nearly every hair claim traces back to a single study from South Korea, published in 2014. Seventy-six men with mild to moderate male pattern hair loss took either a pumpkin seed oil capsule or a placebo every day for 24 weeks. Blinded photo assessments and hair counts favoured the oil group, and the men themselves rated their hair as better.
Promising, as a starting point. But it is one trial, in one country, with 76 men, lasting six months, and nobody has repeated it at scale. It tested swallowed capsules, not oil rubbed on the scalp, so the “massage pumpkin seed oil into roots” videos are extrapolating. And it looked at male pattern hair loss only, which is a hormone-driven, slow thinning at the crown and temples. It tells us nothing about alopecia areata (coin-shaped bald patches), hair fall after illness or childbirth, or thyroid-related shedding.
Our honest take: for a man with early pattern thinning who wants to try something food-based before medicines, pumpkin seed oil is low-risk and has a little evidence behind it. For patchy loss, sudden shedding or hair loss in women, it is a guess. Sort out the cause first; the hair fall versus alopecia explainer walks through the difference.
Using it on the scalp
Nothing stops you oiling with it as you would with coconut or almond oil: a teaspoon worked into the scalp an hour before washing, after a patch test on the inner forearm. Expect the smell of roasted seeds and no miracle. Our oiling and onion juice guide covers how to oil without clogging the scalp.
Pumpkin seed oil and the prostate: why a check comes first
Older men searching “pumpkin seed oil benefits for men” usually mean one thing: getting up at night to pass urine, a weak stream, the feeling of not finishing. Those are the classic symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), the non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate with age.
Pumpkin seed has a long folk reputation here, and there is some clinical work. A Korean trial published in 2009 followed 47 men with BPH symptoms for a year, comparing pumpkin seed oil, saw palmetto oil, both, and a placebo. Symptom scores improved in the pumpkin group within three months, and urine flow improved by six months. Prostate size did not change in anyone. Again, small numbers, one trial, and symptom relief rather than a shrinking gland.
Here is the part the supplement adverts leave out. The same symptoms can come from prostate cancer, a urine infection, diabetes, or an overactive bladder. A man over 50 with new urinary symptoms needs a PSA blood test, a urine test and a doctor’s finger examination before he starts anything. Blood in the urine, pain in the bones, or inability to pass urine at all are hospital problems, not supplement problems. Our page on frequent urination causes lists the warning signs. Once the serious causes are excluded, a man who wants to try pumpkin seed oil alongside his doctor’s plan is on reasonable ground.
Hormone fears: does it affect women or testosterone?
Two opposite worries circulate. Men fear it “lowers testosterone”; women fear it will upset their hormones or help with PCOS and menopause. The theory behind both is that pumpkin seed oil may block 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone into its stronger cousin DHT. That action was seen in rats and is the rationale for the hair trial.
In people, nobody has shown a measurable testosterone drop from eating pumpkin seed oil, and nobody has shown a benefit for PCOS, periods or menopause either. Treat the hormone claims, good and bad, as unproven. The oil is a food, not a plan.
Capsules or oil: which form, and what prices make sense in Pakistan
The trials used capsules of the oil. A bottled culinary oil gives you the same fatty acids and a lot more of them per spoon, plus the taste. The capsule wins on convenience and on not going rancid in a hot kitchen; the bottle wins on cost per millilitre and on being usable in food.
Prices on Pakistani shop sites in October 2026 fall into two tiers. Local cold-pressed oil in a 100 to 120 ml bottle sells for several hundred rupees up to a little over a thousand, while an imported bottle of 100 softgels runs into several thousand rupees. These move with the dollar and with the shop, so treat them as a guide, not a quote. The sanity check runs the other way: a 100 ml bottle priced like cooking oil cannot be cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil, because the seed alone costs more than that.
- Read the label for “cold-pressed” and the botanical name Cucurbita pepo. “Pumpkin fragrance oil” or “pumpkin blend” is not it.
- Check the colour with the pour test above. Dark green to red-brown is right; yellow is wrong.
- Look for a dark bottle and a pressing or best-before date. This oil oxidises fast; a clear bottle under shop lights is already ageing.
- Smell it. Fresh oil smells of roasted seeds. A paint-like or crayon smell means rancid; return it.
- Store it in the fridge once opened and finish it within about three months. It thickens when cold; that is normal.
Cooking with pumpkin seed oil: never in a hot pan
In Austria this oil is a finishing oil. It goes over potato salad, soup, cottage cheese and even vanilla ice cream, always at the end, always cold. Heat destroys the flavour and the delicate fats, and it smokes early. Never fry, tadka or roast with it.
In a desi kitchen: a teaspoon over dahi, a spoon in a lemon dressing, or a few drops over daal after the tadka is done. Start small; the taste is strong.
Roghan Kaddu is not pumpkin seed oil
This confusion sends a lot of people home with the wrong bottle. Hamdard’s Roghan Kaddu is a traditional Unani head oil made from bottle gourd (lauki, Lagenaria siceraria) extract cooked into sesame oil. It is sold for headache and sleep, applied to the head, and it is pale, not green. “Kaddu” in Unani product names usually means the gourd, not the orange pumpkin. The sibling article on Roghan Kahu and Kaddu sleep oils covers that family of products.
So if your search was “pumpkin seed oil ke fayde” and the pansari hands you Roghan Kaddu, you have the wrong oil for hair or prostate purposes. Ask for cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil by name, or buy from a seller who prints Cucurbita pepo on the label.
Pumpkin seed oil is a food and side effects are rare, but a few lines matter. Men with urinary symptoms get a PSA and urine check before any supplement; new blood in the urine or inability to pass urine is an emergency. Anyone on blood thinners such as warfarin should tell their doctor before taking any oil in capsule form daily, because pumpkin seed oil has not been studied alongside them. Pregnant and breastfeeding women can eat it as a food; capsule-level daily intake has no safety data, so skip it. People with seed or nut allergies can react. Rancid oil tastes bitter and can upset the stomach; throw it out. It will not fix alopecia areata, thyroid hair loss or sudden shedding, and delaying a diagnosis for a food oil is the real risk. Scalp use: patch test first, and stop if the skin itches or flakes.
Pumpkin seed oil questions people actually ask
Pumpkin seed oil benefits for hair growth, is there evidence?
A little. One 2014 trial of 76 Korean men with pattern hair loss found more hair after six months of daily capsules than placebo. It has not been repeated at scale, it tested swallowing the oil rather than rubbing it in, and it says nothing about other kinds of hair loss.
Pumpkin seed oil benefits for men and prostate?
In the small trials so far, the urinary symptoms of an enlarged prostate eased over a few months while the gland itself stayed the same size. The symptoms overlap with prostate cancer and infection, so a PSA test and a doctor’s examination come first, not after.
Pumpkin seed oil side effects for women and hormones?
As a food it is safe. The hormone effects, both the feared ones and the hoped-for ones, are unproven in people. It is not a treatment for PCOS or menopause, and daily capsule use has no data in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Is Hamdard Roghan Kaddu pumpkin seed oil?
No. Roghan Kaddu is bottle gourd (lauki) extract in sesame oil, a Unani head oil for headache and sleep. Pumpkin seed oil is pressed from Cucurbita pepo seeds and is dark green. They share a word, not an ingredient.
Pumpkin seed oil capsules price in Pakistan?
Imported softgel bottles of 100 list for several thousand rupees on Pakistani sites in late 2026, while local cold-pressed oil in a 100 to 120 ml bottle runs from several hundred to just over a thousand. Prices shift with the dollar; use these as a range, not a quote.
Can I make pumpkin seed oil at home?
Not usefully. Desi kaddu seeds have hard hulls that must be removed one by one, and even then a home press or blender gives a few drops of cloudy oil per cup of seed. The commercial oil comes from a hull-less Austrian pumpkin variety that makes pressing practical.
How to use pumpkin seed oil for hair?
The evidence is for swallowing it, not applying it. If you want to oil with it, a teaspoon massaged into the scalp an hour before washing is enough, after a patch test. It is heavy, so weekly rather than daily suits most scalps.
Can you cook with pumpkin seed oil?
Only cold. Drizzle it over salad, dahi, soup or finished daal. Never fry or heat it; it smokes early and loses both flavour and the fats you bought it for.
Pumpkin seed oil ke fayde in Urdu?
Kaddu ke beej ka tel ek khane ka tel hai jo baalon aur prostate ke liye mashhoor hai. Baalon ke liye sirf ek chhota trial hai, prostate ke liye pehle doctor se PSA test karwayen. Yeh koi dawa nahi, aik achha khane ka tel hai.
How do I tell real pumpkin seed oil from fake?
Real cold-pressed oil is deep green in a thin layer and red-brown in a thick one, smells of roasted seeds, and lists Cucurbita pepo on the label. Pale yellow oil, a clear bottle with no date, or a price close to cooking oil are the three warning signs.
How long does pumpkin seed oil last?
Unopened in a dark bottle, about a year. Once opened, keep it in the fridge and use it within roughly three months. A paint or crayon smell means it has gone rancid.
Bottom line
Pumpkin seed oil is a fine finishing oil with real nutrition and a lovely colour trick. The hair claim rests on one small trial in men with pattern thinning. The prostate claim rests on small trials that eased symptoms without shrinking the gland, and those symptoms need a doctor’s check before any bottle. Hormone claims are unproven either way. Buy it cold-pressed and dark green, keep it in the fridge, never heat it, and do not confuse it with Roghan Kaddu, which is a different plant in a different oil. Find more honest ingredient guides in Desi Remedies.
Sources
- Cho YH et al. Effect of pumpkin seed oil on hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2014
- Hong H, Kim CS, Maeng S. Effects of pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil in Korean men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Nutr Res Pract 2009
- Kreft S, Kreft M. Physicochemical and physiological basis of dichromatic colour. Naturwissenschaften 2007
- Styrian oil pumpkin: the hull-less seed mutation and oil yield
- Hamdard Roghan Kadu listing: sesame oil and bottle gourd