Are pumpkin seeds high in histamine?
Pumpkin seeds are probably mostly low in histamine, but they have never been measured: pumpkin flesh was tested, the seeds were not, and they are sold dry and not fermented.
- Histamine
- Not measured
- Other amines
- Not measured
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| 10 published low-histamine diets (2021 review) 1 | The chart has bars for pumpkin (2 of 10 diets) and nuts (2 of 10), but none for seeds. | |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 2 | No seeds appear among the foods excluded by the diets it compared. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
How freshness and processing change it
Dry pumpkin seeds were not measured, and no study we use followed amines in seeds during storage. If you scoop seeds from a fresh pumpkin, dry and roast them soon rather than leaving them damp, since amines can keep forming in stored plant foods. Roasting does not remove histamine, which is heat-stable.
Not measured. Sold dry and not fermented. (estimate)
Not measured. Made from ground seeds; check the label for added ingredients. (estimate)
Why we rate pumpkin seeds 1
Pumpkin seeds have not been measured for histamine in the studies we use, even though pumpkin itself has, and that difference is the main thing to know on this page. A University of Barcelona team tested pumpkin flesh twice. Twelve samples in its 2018 survey averaged 0.28 mg/kg of histamine, with a highest value of 1.90 mg/kg, and thirteen samples in its 2021 table had none detectable, with putrescine averaging 9.87 mg/kg. Those figures describe the soft, watery flesh. The seeds are a dry, oily part of the plant, and the papers give no figures for them, so the flesh results cannot be carried over.
Without a measurement, we look at how the seeds are produced. Histamine in food forms mainly when bacteria convert the amino acid histidine, which is why fermented foods, and fish that is not fresh, are where the reviews find the highest levels. Pumpkin seeds are scooped out, dried and sold dry, usually roasted and sometimes salted. They are not fermented. Pepitas, the green kernels sold without their white hull, are the same food for our purposes. Roasting does not remove histamine, because it is heat-stable, but there is no known route for a dry seed to build up a high level.
The published diets say nothing direct about pumpkin seeds. The 2021 review's chart of foods excluded by ten low-histamine diets has a bar for pumpkin, excluded by two diets, and one for nuts, also two, but none for seeds. We cannot tell from the chart whether the diets that exclude pumpkin mean the seeds as well.
If you roast seeds yourself from a fresh pumpkin, dry and roast them soon after scooping rather than leaving them damp for days. The team's 2018 review advises eating plant foods as fresh as possible, because amines can keep forming during storage.
We rate pumpkin seeds 1, "mostly low", as an estimate. Nothing about the dry seed points to histamine, but it has not been tested, and we keep 0 for foods that have been tested and found to have none. Pumpkin seed butter was not measured either, and we give it the same estimate. Pumpkin seed oil is a different product and is not rated here.
Questions about pumpkin seeds and histamine
Are pumpkin seeds low histamine?
They have not been measured. Pumpkin seeds are sold dry and are not fermented, so there is no known route to a high level, and we rate them 1, "mostly low", as an estimate.
Are pepitas the same as pumpkin seeds?
Yes, pepitas are pumpkin seeds without the white hull. Neither form was measured, so the same estimate applies.
Evidence behind this page
- Pumpkin flesh sold in Spain averaged 0.28 mg/kg of histamine in 12 samples (2018) and had none detectable in 13 samples (2021); the seeds were not measured. 41
- Two of ten published low-histamine diets exclude pumpkin, and two exclude nuts; seeds do not appear on the chart. 1
- Histamine in food forms mainly when bacteria decarboxylate the amino acid histidine, and the highest levels are found in fermented foods and fish that is not fresh. 21
- Plant foods should be eaten as fresh as possible, since histamine and other amines can keep forming during refrigerated storage. 4
Sources
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content? Nutrients 13(5):1395, 2021. doi:10.3390/nu13051395 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2021)
- Comas-Basté O, Sánchez-Pérez S, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla M, Vidal-Carou MDC. Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art. Biomolecules 10(8):1181, 2020. doi:10.3390/biom10081181 (Comas-Basté O et al. 2020)
- Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI). Food compatibility list for histamine intolerance. histaminintoleranz.ch (accessed November 2026), 2026. Link (Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) 2026)
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Rabell-González J, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Biogenic Amines in Plant-Origin Foods: Are They Frequently Underestimated in Low-Histamine Diets? Foods 7(12):205, 2018. doi:10.3390/foods7120205 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2018)