The effects of blanching treatment on peroxidase inactivation, colour and texture of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima L.) were studied in the temperature range of 75–95°C. Peroxidase inactivation followed a first-order Arrhenius model, where the activation energy and rate of the reaction at a reference temperature of 85°C were 86.20±5.57kJmol⁻¹ and 0.27±0.01min⁻¹, respectively. During blanching, pumpkin became darker and softer with processing time. The degradation of colour (evaluated throughout CIE L^∗a^∗b^∗ colour system, with chroma index and total colour difference) and texture parameters (firmness and energy) showed a fractional conversion model kinetics, being the temperature effect on kinetic parameters well described by the Arrhenius law. The results of this work are a good tool to further optimise pumpkin blanching conditions.