471 



SESAMEJi:. 



The Indian languages have their 



most ancient documents of Egyptian, Hebrew/ Sanskrit, Greek, and 

 Roman literature, has been used by mankind for the sake of its oily seeds 

 from the earliest times. The Egyptian name Senisemt already occurring 

 iu the Papyrus Ebers, is still existing in the Coptic Semseni, the Arabic 

 Simsinij and the modern Sesamivm, •^^ -^ '•• ■" 

 own terms for it, the Hindustani I'll, from the Sanskrit TiVa, being one 

 of the best known.^ Tila already occurs in the Vedic literature. In 

 the days of Pliny the oil was an export from Sind to Europe by way 

 of the Red Sea, precisely as the seeds are at the present day. 



During the middle ages the plant, then kno^s^n as Suseman or 

 Sempsen, was cultivated in Cyprus, Egypt and Sicily ; the oil was an 

 article of import from Alexandria to Venice. Joachim Camerariusgave 

 a good figure of the plant in his '' Hortus medicus et philosophicus" 

 1588 (tab. 44). In modern times sesam^ oil gave way to that of olives, 

 yet at present it is an article which, if not so renowned, is at least of 

 far greater consumption. 



Production— The plant comes to perfection within 3 or 4 months; 

 its capsule contains numerous flat seeds, which are about y% of an inch 

 long by -^V thick, and weigh on an average yV ^^ ^^ grain. To collect 

 them, the plant when mature is cut dowri, and stacked in heaps for a 

 few days, after which it is exposed to the sun during the day, but 

 collected a^ain into heaps at night. By this process the capsules 

 gradually ripen and burst, and the seeds M\ out.^ 



J 



The plant is found in sev^eral varieties affording respectively white 

 yellowish, reddish, brown or black seeds. The dark seeds may be de- 

 prived of a part of their colouring matter by washing, which is some- 

 times done with a view to obtain a paler oil.* 



We obtained from yellowish seeds 56 per cent, of oil ; on a large 

 scale, the yield varies with the variety of seed employed and the pro- 

 cess of pressing, from 45 to 50 per cent. 



Description— The best kinds of sesame oil have a mild agreeable 

 taste, a light yellowish colour, and scarcely any odour ; but in these 

 respects the oil is liable to vary with the circumstances already men- 

 tioned. The white seeds produced in Sind are reputed to yieU t'le 



finest oil. 



sp 



d 



We prepared some oil by means of ether, and found it to have a 

 . gr. of 0<)19 at 23' C; it solidified at 5° C, becoming rather turbia 

 at some degrees above this temperature. Yet sesame oil is more m<^ 

 at ordinary temperatures than ground-nut oil, and is less prone to 

 diange by the influence of the air. It is in fact, when of fine quality, 

 one of the less nlterable oils. 



Chemical Composition— The oil is a mixture of olein, stearin an 



^^ Isaiah xxviii. 27. 



- The word Gbujcli (ov aerueJna), m hich 

 Roxburgh remarks vas (as it is now) in 

 cominou use among Europeans, <lerives from 

 the AruLic chulchnmn, denoting sesame 

 seed ni Its husks before being reaped (Dr. 



wl ^t ■ ^"'■''^ -ff^HK-is, we believe, of 

 \V est African origin, and has no eonnection 

 with /^CH, the name of ^forh>na. 



For further particulars see Buchanan, 

 Joani.yjroni Madru<> throuyh M>jsore, etc. 



i. (1807) 95. and ii. 224. . ^j^e 



i This curious process is descnhcd m ^ 



Reports of Jtn-ks, Madras i^''^" ';'""' 'the 

 p. 31. -that the colouring "^'^"f.f con- 

 seeds is actually soluble in ^^'a^^/ , ve 

 firmed by Lepinc of Poudicherry as^ve^^^^^^ 



learnt from his manuscript ""^^'^ l'p,;,|pnies 

 to the Musee des Prodmts ^ ^s ^i ^^ 

 de France at Paris. The seeds may 

 be used as a dye. 



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