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SESAME

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 701 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SESAME , the most important plant of the genus Sesamum (nat. ord. Pedalineae), is that which is used throughout See also:

India and other tropical countries for the See also:sake of the oil expressed from its seeds. S. indicum is a See also:herb 2 to 4 ft. high, with the See also:lower leaves on See also:long stalks, broad, coarsely toothed or lobed. The upper leaves are lanceolate, and See also:bear in their arils curved, tubular, two-lipped See also:flowers, each about in. long, and pinkish or yellowish in See also:colour. The four stamens are of unequal length, with a trace of a fifth stamen, and the two-celled ovary ripens into a two-valved pod with numerous seeds. The plant has been cultivated in the tropics from See also:time immemorial, and is sup-posed on philological grounds to have been disseminated from the islands of the See also:Indian See also:Archipelago, but at See also:present it is not known with certainty in a See also:wild See also:state. The plant varies in the colour of the See also:flower, and especially in that of the seeds, From See also:Bentley and Trimen, Medicinal See also:Plants, by permission of J. & A. See also:Churchill, which range Sesame (Sesamum indicum). from l i g h t 1, Corolla cut open with stamens. y e 11 o w o r 2, Flower after removal of corolla. whitish t o 3, Ovary cut lengthwise. See also:black. Sesame 4, See also:Fruit, oil, otherwise 5, See also:Seed cut lengthwise. 3 and 5 enlarged. known as See also:gin- gelly or til (not to be confounded with that derived from Guizotia oleifera, known under the same - See also:vernacular name), is very largely used for the same purposes as See also:olive oil, and, although less widely known by name, is commercially a much more important oil.

The oil is included in the Indian and Colonial Addendum (1goo) to the See also:

British Pharmacopeia. The seeds and leaves also are used by the natives as demulcents and for other medicinal purposes. The See also:soot obtained in burning the oil is said to constitute one of the-ingredients in India or See also:Chinese See also:ink. The plant might be cultivated with See also:advantage in almost all the tropical and semi-tropical colonies of See also:Britain, but will not succeed in any See also:part of See also:Europe. A detailed See also:account of its See also:history and the cultivation of the plant in India is given by See also:Sir G. See also:Watt, See also:Dictionary of Economic Products of India (1893).

End of Article: SESAME

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