Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-669899f699-vbsjw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-03T15:26:01.156Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

II.E.4 - Sesame

from II.E - Animal, Marine, and Vegetable Oils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Dorothea Bedigian
Edited by
Kenneth F. Kiple  and
Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas
Kenneth F. Kiple
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University, Ohio
Get access

Summary

Botanical Description

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) belongs to the Pedaliaceae, a small family of about 15 genera and 60 species of annual and perennial herbs. These occur mainly in the Old World tropics and subtropics, with the greatest number in Africa (Purseglove 1968). Sesame is a crop of hot, dry climates, grown for its oil and protein-rich seeds. The oil is valued for its stability, color, nutty flavor, and resistance to rancidity.

A large number of cultivars are known (Bedigian, Smyth, and Harlan 1986). These differ in their maturation time, degree of branching, leaf shape and color, and number of flowers per leaf axil, which may be 1 or 3. The locules in the capsule usually number 4 or 8. The known cultivars also vary in length of capsule, in intensity of flower color, and especially in seed color, which ranges from pure white to black, with intervening shades of ivory, beige, tan, yellow, brown, red, and gray. The seeds are about 3 millimeters long and have a flattened pear shape. The capsules open automatically when dry, causing the seed to scatter.

Production

Sesame is usually grown as a rain-fed crop. It has many agricultural advantages: It sets seed and yields relatively well under high temperatures, it is tolerant of drought, and it does reasonably well on poor soils. It is very sensitive to day length and is intolerant of waterlogging. The major obstacle to the expansion of sesame is its habit of shattering: The absence of nonshattering cultivars, suitable for machine harvest, results in labor-intensive harvest seasons. Because of this obstacle, the crop is not suitable for large-scale commercial production (although breeding for non-shattering traits has been ongoing). Instead, sesame has typically been grown on a small scale for local consumption or in places where labor is cheap.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge World History of Food , pp. 411 - 421
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Anon., 1774. Records of the states of the U.S.Georgia Gazette, May 25. Savannah, Ga.Google Scholar
Aristophanes, . 1930. The eleven comedies, anon., trans. New York.Google Scholar
Arulrajan, R., comp. 1964. English-Tamil senior dictionary. Madras.Google Scholar
Bedigian, D. 1985. Is se-gis-i sesame or flax?Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2.Google Scholar
Bedigian, D. 1988. Sesamum indicum L. (Pedaliaceae): Ethnobotany in Sudan, crop diversity, lignans, origin, and related taxa. In Modern systematic studies in African botany, ed. Goldblatt, P., and Lowry, P. P.. St. Louis, Mo.Google Scholar
Bedigian, D. 1991. Genetic diversity of traditional sesame cultivars and cultural diversity in Sudan. In Biodiversity: Culture, conservation and ecodevelopment, ed. Oldfield, M. L. and Alcorn, J. B.. Boulder, Colo.Google Scholar
Bedigian, D., and Harlan, J. R.. 1983. Nuba agriculture and ethnobotany, with particular reference to sesame and sorghum. Economic Botany 37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedigian, D., and Harlan, J. R.. 1986. Evidence for cultivation of sesame in the ancient world. Economic Botany 40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedigian, D., Seigler, D. S., and Harlan, J. R.. 1985. Sesamin, sesamolin and the origin of sesame. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedigian, D., Smyth, C. A., and Harlan, J. R.. 1986. Patterns of morphological variation in sesame. Economic Botany 40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Betts, E. M. ed. 1944. Thomas Jefferson’s garden book, 1766–1824.Philadelphia, Pa.Google Scholar
Boland, A. R., Garner, G. B., and O'Dell, B. L.. 1975. Identification and properties of phytate in cereal grains and oilseed products. Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry 23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bray, F. 1984. Agriculture, Vol. 27 of Science and civilization in China, ed. Needham, J.. Cambridge and New York.Google Scholar
Campbell, J. 1952. The portable Arabian nights.New York.Google Scholar
Chakraborty, P. K., Maiti, S., and Chatterjee, B. N.. 1984. Growth analysis and agronomic appraisal of sesamum. Indian Journal of Agricultural Science 54.Google Scholar
Chaturvedi, M., and Tiwari, B. N., eds. 1970. Hindi-English dictionary. Delhi.Google Scholar
Colquitt, H. R. 1933. The Savannah cook book. Charleston, S.C.Google Scholar
Columella, L. J. M. 1941. On agriculture, trans. Ash, H. B.. Cambridge, Mass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cost, B. 1989. Ginger east to west. Berkeley, Calif.Google Scholar
Crocomo, O. J., and Basso, L. C.. 1974. Accumulation of putrescine and related amino acids in K-deficient Sesamum. Phytochemistry 13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danilevich, A. F. 1977. Changes in content of free amino acids during roasting. Khlebopekarnaya Konditerskaya Promshlennost 2.Google Scholar
Danilevich, A. F., and Aboms, A.. 1973. Changes in amine nitrogen level during fluidized bed searing of sesame seed kernels. Izvestia Vysshikh Uchebnnykh Zavedenii Pishchevaya Tekhnologiya 5.Google Scholar
David, E. 1970. Spices, salt and aromatics in the English kitchen.Harmondsworth, England.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. M. 1953. Modern Greek folktales. Oxford.Google Scholar
Daxin, Z. 1994. The sesame oil mill. Short Story International 18.Google Scholar
Deines, H., and Grapow, H.. 1959. Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Drogennamen. Grundriss der Medizin der alten Aegypter, Vol. 6. Berlin.Google Scholar
Donner, H., and Roellig, W.. 1964. Kanaanaische and aramaische Inschriften, Vol. 2. Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
Dossin, G. 1933. Lettres de la premiere dynastie Babylonienne, Vol. 1. Paris.Google Scholar
Dymock, W., Warden, C. J. H., and Hooper, D.. 1893. Pharmacographia Indica, Vol. 3. London.Google Scholar
Ebeling, E. 1923. Keilschrifttexte aus Assur religiösen Inhalts (KAR 376 r. 19). Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 34.Google Scholar
Ekpenyong, T. E., Fetuga, B. L., and Oyenuga, V. A.. 1977. Fortification of maize flour based diets with blends of cashewnut meal, African locust bean meal and sesame oil meal. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
,FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 1992. Production yearbook 1991, Vol. 45. Rome.
Faroukh, O. 1965. Tarikh al adab al Arab.Beirut.Google Scholar
Feigin, S. I. 1979. Legal and administrative texts of the reign of Samsu-Iluna.New Haven, Conn.Google Scholar
Gallant, T. W. 1985. The agronomy, production, and utilization of sesame and linseed in the Graeco-Roman world. Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2.Google Scholar
Gerhardt, M. I. 1963. The art of story telling.Leiden.Google Scholar
Godfrey, S. A., Frances, B. J., and Kamara, C. S.. 1976. Protein evaluation of cowpea and benniseed from Sierra Leone. Tropical Science 18.Google Scholar
Goetze, A. 1956. Laws of Eshnunna. New Haven, Conn.Google Scholar
Gove, P. B., ed. 1967. Webster’s third new international dictionary of the English language.Springfield, Mass.Google Scholar
Gupta, S. M. 1971. Plant myths and traditions in India. Leiden.Google Scholar
Herodotus, . 1928. History, trans. Rawlinson, G., ed. Manuel Komroff. New York.Google Scholar
Hess, K. 1992. The Carolina rice kitchen: The African connection. Columbia, S.C.Google Scholar
Hopf, M., and Willerding, U.. 1989. Pflanzenreste. In Bastan II, ed. Kleiss, W.. Berlin.Google Scholar
Hopkins, E. W. 1968. Epic mythology. Delhi.Google Scholar
Hunt, A. S., and Edgar, C. C., eds. and trans. 1932. Select papyri, Vols. 1 and 2. Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Hussein, M. A., and Noaman, M. M.. 1976. Comparison between white and red sesame seed and oil. Olaj, Szappan, Kozmetika 25.Google Scholar
IbnMukarram, Manzur Muhammed ibn. 1981. Lisan al-Arab.Cairo.Google Scholar
Ishikawa, S., and Tsuji, H.. 1976. Seed coats of sesame removed with cellulase and hemicellulase. Japan Kokai 77. Patent July 30, 1977. Appl. 76/3. January 19, 1976.Google Scholar
Johnson, L. A., Suleiman, T. M., and Lusas, E. W.. 1979. Sesame protein: A review and prospectus. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society 56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, R. H., and Raymond, W. D.. 1964. Chemical composition of some tropical food plants. III: Sesame seed. Tropical Science 6.Google Scholar
Joshi, A. B. 1961. Sesamum. Hyderabad.Google Scholar
,Junior League of Charleston, comp. 1950. Charleston receipts collected by the Junior League of Charleston. Charleston, S.C.
KÄgi, M. K., and Wüthrich, B.. 1993. Falafel burger anaphylaxis due to sesame seed allergy. Annals of Allergy 71.Google ScholarPubMed
Kassabian, Z. 1957. Production of vegetable oil in Urartu. In Armenian. Izvestia Akademia Nauk Armenia SSR 4.Google Scholar
Keimer, L. 1924. Die Gartenpflanzen im alten Ägypten, Vol. 1. Hamburg and Berlin.Google Scholar
Keiser, C. E. 1917. Letters and contracts from Erech written in the Neo-Babylonian period. Babylonian inscriptions in the collection of James B. Nies….New Haven, Conn.Google Scholar
Laufer, B. 1919. Sino-Iranica; Chinese contributions to the history of civilization in ancient Iran, 288–96. In Field Museum of Natural History Anthropological Series 15. Chicago.Google Scholar
Li, Shih-Chen. [1596]1893. Pen ts'ao kang mu.Shanghai.Google Scholar
Little, M. 1991. Colonial policy and subsistence in Tanganyika 1925–1945. Geographical Review 81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, E. 1774. History of Jamaica, Vol 3. London.Google Scholar
Loret, V. 1892. La flore pharaonique. Rev. second edition. Paris.Google Scholar
Lowndes, T. 1730. Records in the British Public Record Office Pertaining to South Carolina 14.
Lucas, A. 1962. Ancient Egyptian materials and industries.London.Google Scholar
Lunan, J. 1814. Hortus Jamaicensis. Jamaica.Google Scholar
Lyon, C. K. 1972. Sesame: Current knowledge of composition and use. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society 49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manley, C. H., Vallon, P. P., and Erickson, R. E.. 1974. Some aroma components of roasted sesame seed. Journal of Food Science 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehra, K. L. 1967. History of sesame in India and its cultural significance. Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal 5.Google Scholar
Milne-Redhead, E., and Taylor, P.. 1956. Description/label of Sesamum indicum specimen No. 9701, collected April 13, 1956, from the Songea district, Tanzania. Located in the East African Herbarium.Google Scholar
Mirocha, C. J., Pathre, S. V., Schauerhamer, B., and Christensen, C. M.. 1976. Natural occurrence of Fusarium toxins in feedstuff. Applied Environmental Microbiology 32.Google ScholarPubMed
Monacelli, R., Aiello, E., di Muccio, A., et al. 1976. Presence of aflatoxin B1 in oleaginous seeds other than peanuts. Rivista della Società Italiana di Scienza dell'Alimentazione 5.Google Scholar
Monier-Williams, M. 1964. Sanskrit-English dictionary. New Delhi.Google Scholar
Mookerji, R. K. [1912]1962. Indian shipping. A history of the sea-borne trade and maritime activity of the Indians from the earliest times.Allahabad.Google Scholar
Mote, F. W. 1977. Yüan and Ming. In Food in Chinese culture, ed. Chang, K. C.. New Haven, Conn.Google Scholar
,National Academy of Sciences. 1973. Toxicants occurring naturally in foods. Second edition. Washington, D.C.
Nayar, N. M. 1976. Sesame. In Evolution of crop plants, ed. Simmonds, N. W.. London.Google Scholar
Nayar, N. M., and Mehra, K. L.. 1970. Sesame: Its uses, botany, cytogenetics and origin. Economic Botany 24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neef, R. 1989. Plants. In Picking up the threads: A continuing review of excavations at Deir Allah, Jordan, ed. Kooij, G. and Ibrahim, M. M.. Leiden.Google Scholar
Norman, J. 1995. The complete book of spices.New York.Google Scholar
O'Dell, B. L., and de Boland, A.. 1976. Complexation of phytate with proteins and cations in corn germ and oil seed meals. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogot, B. A. 1967. History of the southern Luo.Nairobi.Google Scholar
Oppenheim, A. L., et al., eds. 1958. The Assyrian dictionary of the Oriental Institute, Chicago, “E.” Chicago.Google Scholar
Oppenheim, A. L., 1962. The Assyrian dictionary of the Oriental Institute, Chicago, “š”. Chicago.Google Scholar
Parrot, F. 1845. Journey to Ararat. London.Google Scholar
Pinches, T. G. 1899. Cuneiform texts from Babylonian tablets in the British Museum 8:8e:10. London.Google Scholar
Piotrovskii, B. B. 1950. Karmir Blur I, in Russian. Yerevan.Google Scholar
Piotrovskii, B. B. 1952. Karmir Blur II, in Russian. Yerevan.Google Scholar
Pliny, . 1938. Natural history, trans. Rackham, H.. Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Prakash, O. 1961. Food and drinks in ancient India. Delhi.Google Scholar
Purseglove, J. W. 1968. Tropical crops: Dicotyledons, Vol. 2. New York.Google Scholar
Ratnagar, S. 1981. Encounters: The westerly trade of the Harappan civilization. Delhi.Google Scholar
Reiner, E., ed. 1989. The Assyrian dictionary of the Oriental Institute, Chicago, Vol. 17, “š”. Chicago.Google Scholar
Romans, B. [1775]1962. A concise natural history of east and west Florida. Gainesville, Fla.Google Scholar
Rubenstein, L. 1950. Sensitivity to sesame seed and sesame oil. New York State Journal of Medicine 50.Google ScholarPubMed
Rutledge, S. [1847]1979. The Carolina housewife.Columbia, S.C.Google Scholar
Salunkhe, D. K., Chavan, J. K., Adsule, R. N., and Kadam, S. S.. 1991. World oilseeds: Chemistry, technology and utilization. New York.Google Scholar
Sampson, H.C. 1936. Cultivated crop plants of the British empire and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Additional Series 12.Google Scholar
Schafer, E. H. 1977. T'ang. In Food in Chinese culture, ed. Chang, K. C.. New Haven, Conn.Google Scholar
Scheven, A. 1981. Swahili proverbs: Nia zikiwa moja, kilicho mbali huja. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Schoff, W. H., trans. 1912. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. London.Google Scholar
Seegeler, C. J. P. 1989. Sesamum orientale L. (Pedaliaceae): Sesame’s correct name. Taxon 38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
,Sesame culture in the southern states. 1912. Scientific American 107.
Sharma, Y. K., Deodhar, A. D., and Gangrade, S. K.. 1975. Chemical composition of sesame varieties of Madhya Pradesh, India. Iran Journal of Agricultural Research 3.Google Scholar
Simmons, S. D. 1978. Early Old Babylonian documents. Yale Oriental Series, Vol. 15. New Haven, Conn.Google Scholar
Soden, Wolfram von. 1960. Ellu. Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, Vol. 1. Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
Soliman, M., Kinoshita, S., and Yamanishi, T.. 1975. Aroma of roasted sesame seeds. Agricultural and Biological Chemistry 39.Google Scholar
Stol, M. 1985. Remarks on the cultivation of sesame and the extraction of its oil. Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2.Google Scholar
Sturtevant, E. L. [1919]1972. Sturtevant’s edible plants of the world, reprint, ed. Hedrick, U. P.. New York.Google Scholar
,Sudan Department of Agriculture and Forests and Department of Economics and Trade. 1938. Sesame. Sudan Government Department of Economics and Trade Bulletin No. 2. Khartoum.
Tabekhia, M. M., and Mohammed, M. S.. 1971. Effect of processing and cooking operations on thiamine, riboflavine and nicotinic acid content of some Egyptian national foods. II. Broad beans and sesame products. Alexandria Journal of Agricultural Research 19.Google Scholar
Theophrastus, . 1916. Enquiry into plants, trans. Hort, A.. Cambridge, Mass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tinay, A. H. El, Khattab, A. H., and Khidir, M. O.. 1976. Protein and oil components of sesame seed. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society 53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titley, N. M. 1979. Plants and gardens in Persian, Mughal and Turkish art.London.Google Scholar
Tothill, J. D., ed. 1948. Agriculture in the Sudan. London.Google Scholar
Turner, Lorenzo. 1969. Africanisms in the Gullah dialect. New York.Google Scholar
Van Beek, G. W. 1969. Hajar bin Humeid. Baltimore, Md.Google Scholar
Vartavan, C. 1990. Contaminated plant-foods from the tomb of Tutankhamun: A new interpretive system. Journal of Archaeological Science 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vats, M. S. 1940. Excavations at Harappa. Delhi.Google Scholar
Villegas, A. M., González, A., and Calderón, R.. 1968. Microbiological and enzymatic evaluation of sesame protein. Cereal Chemistry 45.Google Scholar
Vishnu-Mittre, . 1977. The changing economy in ancient India. In Origins of agriculture, ed. Reed, C. A.. The Hague.Google Scholar
Wankhede, D. J., and Tharanathan, R. N.. 1976. Sesame carbohydrates. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warner-Lewis, M. 1991. Guinea’s other suns: The African dynamic in Trinidad culture. Dover, Mass.Google Scholar
Weiss, E. A. 1971. Castor, sesame and safflower. New York.Google Scholar
Wilson, Mary Tolford. 1964. Peaceful integration: The owner’s adoption of his slaves' food. Journal of Negro History 49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfert, P. 1973. Couscous and other good food from Morocco. New York.Google Scholar
Xenophon, . 1901. March of the ten thousand (Anabasis), trans. Dakyns, H. G.. London.Google Scholar
Yen, G.-C., and Shyu, S.-L.. 1989. Oxidative stability of sesame oil prepared from sesame seed with different roasting temperatures. Food Chemistry 31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yermanos, D. M., Hemstreet, S., Saleeb, W., and Huszar, C. K.. 1972. Oil content and composition in the world collection of sesame introductions. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society 49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yü, Y. S. 1977. Han. In Food in Chinese culture, ed. Chang, K. C.. New Haven, Conn.Google Scholar
Zohary, D., and Hopf, M.. 1994. Domestication of plants in the Old World. Second edition. Oxford.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×