An erect annual herb grown for its oil-rich seeds, one of the oldest cultivated oilseed crops in the world.
Sesame or beniseed (Sesamum indicum, family Pedaliaceae) is a variable, upright annual 1 to 3 metres tall, branched or unbranched, with a tapering taproot up to 90 cm long. It has been grown for its edible seed and oil since at least 2,000 BC and is still widely cultivated in the tropics and warm temperate regions; it also has medicinal and other uses. Its origin is unknown, possibly north-east Africa or India, and it is not known wild.
It can be grown wherever there is a growing season of at least five months, up to 1,500 metres in the tropics, best at 20 to 30°C with 500 to 1,000 mm of rain a year; high humidity or heavy rain encourages fungal disease. It needs a warm, sunny, sheltered place, because tall plants are easily damaged by wind, and succeeds in most well-drained soils of moderate fertility. Depending on the variety, a crop takes 40 to 180 days from sowing. The world average yield is about 350 kg of seed per hectare, though up to 3 tonnes is possible. Seed is sown where it is to grow, and dried well and kept airtight it stores for up to two years.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
Seed oil is used topically for skin and hair care, and is valued nutritionally for its unsaturated fat content.
Seeds are roasted and eaten whole, pressed for cooking oil, or ground into paste; used in snacks and to enrich soups.
A hardy, drought-tolerant crop grown on well-drained soils across the savanna belt.