A Japanese researcher has developed a wild pumpkin variant that is as sweet as pineapple. Tomoaki Oyamada, from Iwate prefectural government’s environmental and health research center, has named his creation “Nanbu-Ichiro” after “Nanbu,” the former name of Iwate Prefecture, and “Ichiro,” the given name of Ichiro Yokota, a former high school headmaster.
According to The Yomiuri Shimbun, the new variety contains three times as much sugar density as the more widely consumed varieties and can be eaten raw or made into juice without adding sugar.
Some students at the Morioka Agricultural High School, where Oyamada taught until March, assisted with the project. “Nothing would give us greater pleasure than to see this pumpkin become a specialty of Iwate Prefecture,” a third-year student said.
