Sesame oil

Sesame plant & sesame seeds

The sesame plant is one of the oldest oil plants in the world and the oil extracted from it is considered the oldest edible oil in the world. Sesame belongs to the sesame family (Pedaliaceae) and is an annual herbaceous plant that can reach a height of up to two meters. Visually, the plant resembles our foxglove, bears elongated, oval, 4-20 cm long leaves on a straight, branched stem. The tubular, fluffy hairy flowers in white, pink or purple are developed about six weeks after sowing. During the ripening period, the sesame plant forms oval seed capsules close to the stem, which burst open when ripe and the seeds fall out. This distributes the sesame seeds in all directions. To avoid this, the stalks are cut off by hand shortly before full ripeness, just above the ground, and placed in bundles to dry. By shaking the dried plant intensively, the seeds fall out of the capsule. The 2 mm large seeds appear in black and golden yellow to light brown. The black variety is the original form of sesame.                                                           

Sesame seeds thrive in moderately humid, tropical to subtropical, warm regions. During the growth period, the plant requires temperatures of 20-24°C and humidity, during the ripening of the seeds dryness and a frost-free period of at least five months. Because of these conditions, sesame is one of the riskiest plants.