What Is Cucurbit Poisoning? Eating Bitter Pumpkin Can Cause Hair Loss

Bitter-tasting pumpkins and squashes can make someone lose most of their hair, French dermatologist Philippe Assouly warned. The finding came after two unusual cases were reported in a scientific journal, highlighting a previously unknown “toxic association of alopecia (hair loss) with a common plant.”

Two women were poisoned after consuming bitter pumpkin containing potent toxins. The women first experienced severe nausea and diarrhea, before losing their hair a few weeks later, according to medical journal JAMA Dermatology. The latest two are the first known cases of hair loss due to cucurbit poisoning.

In the first case, a woman experienced food poisoning hours after eating a bitter-tasting pumpkin soup. Few days later her hair started falling out, affecting a large portion of her scalp and her pubic area. The woman also suffered from trichorrhexis nodosa, a defect in the hair shaft that makes hair brittle and prone to breaks.

"The meal had been shared with her family, who had eaten less of the soup than she had, and they experienced symptoms of food poisoning but no hair loss," Assouly wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association Dermatology.

In the second case, a woman experienced food poisoning with severe vomiting after consuming a meal that included squash. Few weeks later she lost hair on her head, pubic region, and armpits.

"About three weeks later, the patient experienced substantial hair loss on her head as well as severe alopecia on the armpits and pubic region," the doctor said.

According to doctors, eating bitter cucurbits (a family of plants that includes pumpkins, squashes, zucchini, and watermelons) can be deadly. Cucurbits can contain cucurbitacin, a toxic compound that gives off a bitter taste. Cucurbit poisoning is a rare syndrome.

"Bitterness in a squash should serve as a warning," Assouly told Agence France Presse. "One should not force a child to finish it."

In 2015, a German died of cucurbitacin poisoning after eating a courgette stew, the doctor said.