Sesame: sesame oil and sesame seeds

What is sesame?

Sesame is the name of a botanical genus ( Sesamum ) cultivated in tropical regions around the globe, for the production of seeds used for food purposes.

In 2013, mainly thanks to India and China, the global collection of sesame seeds reached 4.2 million tons.

Sesame seeds are eaten whole or peeled, dried or toasted (they are almost always used as an ingredient), but they are also an excellent raw material for extracting edible oil; the pressing residue is called sesame flour (it is similar to hazelnut flour).

For the Indian and African population, sesame is a food of primary importance and the oil obtained from it is the equivalent of our extra virgin olive oil. The refined sesame oil is light yellow in color, odorless and with a characteristic and pleasant taste.

Currently, there is an increase in the consumption of sesame seeds and derivatives also in the West, above all thanks to its nutritional properties (quality of fats, fibers, vitamins and minerals).

Botanical outline

Sesame is an annual herbaceous plant, belonging to the Pedialiaceae family and the Sesamum genus. The binomial nomenclature of the most widespread species is Sesamum indicum .

The plant grows up to 50-100 cm in height and has opposite lance-shaped leaves, large from 1 to 14 cm long and 5 cm wide. The flowers are yellow, white, blue or purple.

The sesame fruit is a dehiscent capsule (ie it releases the fruit at full maturity, hence the famous phrase: "Open sesame").

Each fruit contains numerous and very small seeds (it takes about 500 to put together a gram), of a more or less dark color in relation to the variety.

The sesame genus differs in many botanical species, most of which are wild and native to sub-Saharan Africa. The indicum species (the most widely cultivated domestic species), is native to India and bears drought brilliantly; it has the characteristic of being able to grow where all the other traditional crops fail.

Considering all the varieties known today, sesame is distributed in the territory from the Middle to the Far East, passing through Africa and India.

History and etymology

Background

That of sesame seeds is among the oldest oilseed crops known today; the historical finds place its food use 3, 000-3, 050 years before the birth of Christ, while the first traces of agricultural application date back to just 2, 000 years later. Oil extraction began in Turkey 2, 750 years ago.

Etymology

Sesame is a word that can derive: from the Latin "sesamum", from the Greek "sēsamon" or from the Arabic "semsem".

use

Food use of sesame and sesame oil

Sesame seeds (whole, peeled, dried or roasted) are almost always used as an ingredient to compose more elaborate recipes.

Also for their nutritional importance, but above all due to the typical crunchiness and the characteristic taste, sesame seeds are widely used to decorate and embellish, also from a nutritional point of view, different baked products (bread, crackers, etc.), bars dietetic and meal replacement, muesli, vegetables and even some desserts.

Not very known in northern regions, sesame seeds represent a particularly versatile ingredient, especially important in Japanese and Indonesian cuisine; toasted and mixed with sea salt (10-20 parts of sesame for one of salt) give rise to gomasio, a valid and certainly more healthy alternative to table salt.

Discover all the properties of gomasio and the recipe for doing it at home

Sesame oil is a seasoning fat that is suitable for "raw" use; it does not tolerate cooking, which compromises its lipidic integrity, and has a very poor ability to preserve (it oxidizes and becomes rancid easily).

Due to its organoleptic and gustatory characteristics, sesame flour is an ingredient that is used in ethnic baking or in the composition of recipes (sauces, pastas etc.); it does not contain gluten and is therefore used in very low percentages, less than 10%.

Pharmaceutical use of sesame oil

In addition to traditional food use, sesame oil is also used in the pharmaceutical sector as a vehicle for lipid-soluble medicines for parenteral use (such as some injectable hormones) and as a mild laxative; for this purpose, first quality cold-pressed sesame oil is used. There are also uses in cosmetics, soaps and shampoos.

Cosmetic use

Read the in-depth article: sesame oil in cosmetics

Property

Nutritional characteristics

Sesame is a very caloric food; energy is provided mainly by lipids, followed by carbohydrates and finally by proteins. Fiber, many minerals and certain vitamins abound. Water is scarce instead.

Not belonging to the Mediterranean food culture, sesame is a product that does not fall into any of the VII fundamental food groups. Despite being a seed (normally grouped in group III and IV), sesame is rich in fats and (like nuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, almonds and pistachios) is better contextualised between fats and seasoning oils (group V ).

Like other oil seeds, sesame is also one of the most frequent causes of allergic reactions in sensitive people.

In Australia, sesame allergy affects as much as 8.5% of the population.

Sesame fats

The lipid content of sesame is among the highest in its category.

In each fruit, the percentage of oil fluctuates from 40 to 60% (compared to 15-35% of ripe olives); this determines the high yield in the oily extraction.

The triglycerides of sesame seeds are rich in oleic acid (also typical of olive oil) and linoleic acid (omega six essential and precursor of other fats of the same family), contained in similar proportions (about 40% each); among the saturated fatty acids, palmitic and stearic abound.

Sesame vitamins

Sesame is an excellent source of vitamins; it provides both water-soluble and liposoluble molecules. In the first group the concentrations of B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin), PP (Niacin), Pyridoxine (B6) and Folate stand out. Among the fat-soluble, on the other hand, the most important is - albeit in modest doses - vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), which together with sesamol preserves the oil from the easy rancidity; this vitamin also gives sesame seeds and oil precious antioxidant properties.

Carbohydrates and sesame fibers

Sesame is rich in fibers, which make up 12% of the weight, while carbohydrates occupy about 23% of the total mass (15% of the energy).

Sesame protein

Sesame seeds are rich in proteins with a medium biological value, in which the high percentage of methionine and tryptophan stands out in the amino acid profile; the limiting amino acid is lysine, hence the same as wheat.

Sesame minerals

In sesame seeds we find very high amounts of calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc.

Sesame antioxidants

Sesame seeds contain antioxidant lignan substances such as: sesamolin, sesamine, pinoresinol and lariciresinol.

Sesame antinutrients

The presence of phytates and oxalates should be noted, which tends to slightly reduce the very high intake of calcium and iron.

Whole, dried sesame seeds - Nutritional values per 100 g

Power		573 kcal
Total carbohydrates		23.4 g
	Starch	23.1 g
	Simple sugars	0.3 g
fibers		11.8 g
Grassi		49.7 g
	Saturated	7.0 g
	Monounsaturated	18.8 g
	polyunsaturated	21.8 g
Protein		17.7 g
water		4.7 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equivalent		- μg
	Beta-carotene	- μg
	Lutein Zexanthin	- μg
Vitamin A		9 IU
Thiamine or B1		0.79 mg	69%
Riboflavin or B2		0.25 mg	21%
Niacin or PP or B3		4.52 mg	30%
Pantothenic acid or B5		- mg	-%
Pyridoxine or B6		0.79 mg	61%
Folic acid		97.0 μg	24%
Choline		- mg	-%
Ascorbic acid or C		0.0 mg	0%
Vitamin D		- μg	-%
Alpha-tocopherol or E		0.25 mg	2%
Vit. K		- μg	-%
Minerals
Football		975.0 mg	98%
Iron		14.6 mg	112%
Magnesium		351.0 mg	99%
Manganese		- mg	-%
Phosphorus		629.0 mg	90%
Potassium		468.0 mg	10%
Sodium		11.0 mg	1%
Zinc		7.8 mg	82%
Fluoride		- μg