Sesame

Parts Usually Used

Seeds

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Sesame is a strong, slender annual growing to 1 1/2-3 feet tall, with slender, dark-green leaves, 5 inches long, and inch-long, pale pink flowers, resembling foxglove, which lie along the square stem. The seeds vary in color: red, black, brown, or creamy white seeds. Seedpods will not develop without adequate moisture; requires watering during dry periods. It is a warmth-loving plant which will only mature its seeds in our southern states and Hawaii, though it may be started early in pots in the north and planted in the garden for decorative purposes.

Full sun. Zones 8-10. Another variety: The Chinese use a plant called sesame (Sesamum indicum) that they name Hu-ma. The famous general, Chang Chien, took the seed from the West to China when he made his famous tour in the time of the Han dynasty.

Where Found

A native to Africa and the warmer parts of Asia. Naturalized from Florida to Texas, it is happiest in its native tropics and will grow in warm climates. Requires full sun and rich, moist soil.

Medicinal Properties

Demulcent, digestive, excretory, emollient, laxative, nutritive, tonic

Biochemical Information

Over 50% fatty oil, (including olein, linolein, palmitin, stearin and myristin), lecithin, choline, 1% oxalate acid, choroginic acid, vitamins E, A and B and appreciable amounts of calcium.

Legends, Myths and Stories

Earliest records show that sesame seed was a staple food and oil source in China, Japan, and India, and was used in ancient Greece. The Egyptians and Persians of Biblical times ground it into a kind of flour, from which they made bread. The Romans crushed the seed and used it like butter for a spread on bread. Today it is still used as a bread spread, the oil being used in the manufacture of some oleo-margarines.

Each plant produces only 1 tbsp. of seed, often none in cool climates. One source claims that the halva candy is an aphrodisiac. It contains a rich supply of potassium and magnesium salts of aspartic acid. In addition, you get a bonus of vitamin E (called the fertility vitamin), calcium, phosphorus, and unsaturated fatty acids (vitamin F) as well as lecithin, and 50% more protein than meat.

The hormone hypophyseal produced by the pituitary gland is basically protein in nature and obviously needs this nutrient in the diet for its development. This hormone is a key factor to healthy activity of the sex glands. So that is why some people call halva the Sex Candy.

Uses

In traditional herbalism, sesame was historically used to support the liver and kidneys, lubricate the intestines, and darken prematurely graying hair. Practitioners recommended it for a wide range of complaints, including backache, tinnitus, blurry vision, migraines, dizziness, chronic constipation, hemorrhoids, dysentery, amenorrhea, and dysmenorrhea. It was also traditionally employed for oral health concerns like receding gums and tooth decay, as well as for hair loss, weak bones, emaciation, dry coughs, blood in the urine, and stiffness or weakness in the joints and knees.

Because herbalists believed it nourished the blood, they utilized it to address nervous spasms, headaches, and numbness, regarding it as a restorative tonic, particularly for the elderly. Externally, the oil was traditionally applied to burns, boils, ulcers, sunburns, freckles, and age spots.

How Sold

Halva or Halvah bars can be obtained in health food stores but be sure to read the label, some are fortified with large amounts of sugar or corn syrup instead of honey. There are various flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and marbled, or with chopped nut covering. You can buy sesame seeds at health food stores, mail order health food companies, herb companies, and even at some supermarkets or corner grocery stores.

Bibliography

The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A.

Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living , by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Co. (1988). The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr.

Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974