Food, Industrial, Nutraceutical, and Pharmaceutical Uses of Sesame Genetic Resources

Abstract

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L., Pedaliaceae) is a very old cultivated crop and thought to have originated in Africa (Ram et al. 1990). However, Oplinger et al. (1990) have indicated it to be a highly prized oil crop of Babylon and Assyria about 4,000 years ago. The Chinese burned sesame oil for light and to make soot for their ink blocks. African slaves brought sesame seeds, which they called benne seeds to America where sesame