Sesame

Sesame (Sesamum indicum), an Indian herb belonging to the order Pedaliaceae, allied to the Labiatae (q.v.), the numerous seeds of which yield 40 to 44 per cent. of a tasteless straw-coloured fixed oil, known as (gingelly oil, the seeds themselves being known also as til seed. It is the oil of India, and is used instead of, or as an adulterant of, olive oil, or, when of very good quality, of oil of almonds. It is itself adulterated with ground nut oil. The plant is now cultivated in southern Europe, and the seeds are largely used in soap-making, being chlefly crushed at Trieste and Marseilles. The seed contains 76 per cent. of olein, together with stearic, palmitic, and myristic acids; but the oil is apt to become rancid. In India it is used in cooking, for lamps, and as an unguent. From 75,000 to 100,000 tons of the seeds are exported annually, Marseil1es taking half that amount.