SEED OILS 171 



ports of sesame into Europe in 1913 amounted to about 250,000 

 tons. In India the average value per ton of seeds is about 150 

 pesos. In Indo-China the yield of seeds varies from 300 to 800 

 kilos per hectare.* 



According to The American Perfumer: f 



The oil from the black variety of sesame is generally stated to be more 

 suitable for medicinal purposes than the white. It is also extensively em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of Indian perfumes, and for this purpose the 

 perfume is frequently extracted by the seeds direct — layers of the seeds 

 being placed between layers of flowers, etc. Thus a favorite jasmine 

 extract in India is made by layers of sesame seed wetted in water being 

 placed alternately with layers of jasmine flowers, all being covered with a 

 cloth and left for 12 to 18 hours, after which an oil is obtained that has 

 all the scent of the flower. 



As regards the composition of sesame oil, Mitchell J says : 



It consists, in the main, of the glycerides of oleic and linolic acid, with 

 smaller quantities of the glycerides of solid fatty acids, including stearine, 

 palmitin and myristin. The unsaponifiable matter (1 to 1.4 per cent.) 

 consists of a phytosterol, a crystalline dextrorotatory substance, sesamin, 

 and a substance termed sesam-ol, which reacts with furfural and hydro- 

 chloric acid. 



Thorpe § in discussing the composition of sesame oil states : 



Sesame oil contains from 12 to 14 p. c. of solid acids, the remainder 

 consists of oleic and linoleic acids. Sesame oil is dextro-rotatory, a prop- 

 erty which may supply a useful additional means of identifying the oil. 

 The optical activity is no doubt due to the presence of phytosterol and 

 sesamin which fonn the bulk of the unsaponifiable matter in sesame oil. 

 In addition thereto, there occurs in the unsaponifiable matter a thick non- 

 crystallisable oil which gives the characteristic colour reaction known as 

 the "Baudouin." 



Lewkowitsch || gives the constants of sesame oil: 



Specific gravity (15°), 0.9230 to 0.9237. 



Solidifying point -4° to -6°. 



Saponification value (Mgrms KOH) 188.5 to 190.4. 



Iodine value 106.9 to 107.8. 



Maumene test 63° to 72°. 



Refractive index (15°), 1.4748-1.4762. 



Oleo-refractometer (22°), -fl3° to +17°. 



Butyro-refractometer (25°), 68° to 68.2°. 



* Indian trade in oil seeds. Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, Volume 

 15 (1917), page 405. 



fThe American Perfumer, Volume 10 (1915-1916), page 244. 



J Mitchell, C. A., Edible oils and fats (1918), page 69. 



§ Thorpe, E., Dictionary of applied chemistry, Volume 4 (1912), page 

 661. 



il Lewkowitsch, J., Oils, fats, and waxes, Volume 2 (1915), page 210. 



