Sesame

Sesame, an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Sesamum, natural order Bignoniaceæ, sub-order Pedaliaceæ, a sub-order characterised by wingless seeds, and placentæ with woody lobes attached to the inner wall of the fruit. The calyx of Sesamum is five-parted; the corolla irregular five-parted; the stamens four, two longer than the others, and a rudimentary fifth stamen; the capsule is oblong, almost four-celled, two-valved, many-seeded. The species most worthy of notice is S. indicum, sometimes identified with and sometimes distinguished from S. orientale, a native of India. Sesame is cultivated throughout the East from Egypt to Japan for the sake of the seeds, which yield by expression gingili-oil. The oil is used in cookery—as a substitute for butter in the same way as olive-oil—for lighting, and for the purposes of lubrication. It is inodorous, has a sweet taste, and keeps for years without becoming rancid. In Egypt and Arabia it is preferred to olive-oil. It is used in connection with medicine. Egyptian women consider it the best of cosmetics and the most perfect preservative of the hair. Nine pounds of the seeds yield two quarts of the sweet oil. The sweet oleaginous seeds are used in some countries, as in Central Africa, for making a kind of hasty-pudding. The oil-cake, mixed with honey and preserved citron, is an oriental luxury. The leaves of Sesame abound in a gummy substance, which they readily impart to water, making a rich bland mucilage, which is used in the southern parts of the United States (where it is grown a little) as a demulcent drink. Sesame is sometimes called til-seed.