476 
Oil  of  Sesamum. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    October,  1910. 
OIL  OF  SESAMUM— ITS  USE  IN  PHARMACY.* 
By  Otto  Raubenheimer,  Ph.G.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Oleum  sesami,  sesame  oil,  benne  oil,  gingelli  oil,  gingelly  oil,  or 
teel  oil  is  the  fixed  oil  expressed  from  the  seeds  of  Sesamum  indicum 
L.  (Fam.  Pedaliacese) .  The  sesame  plant  is  indigenous  to  India, 
but  is  largely  cultivated  also  in  China,  Japan,  and  most  Oriental 
and  tropical  countries.  According  to  Miss  Alice  Henkel,  assistant 
in  drug  plant  investigations,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  sesame  has  also  been  cultivated  to  some 
extent  in  the  Southern  States  and  is  said  to  run  wild  in  the  extreme 
south.  The  yield  of  oil  is  from  47  to  57  per  cent.  It  has  a  pale 
yellow  color,  is  nearly  inodorous,  and  has  a  bland  nut-like  pleasant 
taste. 
Table  of  constants:  Specific  gravity  at  150  C,  0.920-0.924; 
specific  gravity  at  980  C,  0.867-0.870;  solidifying  test,  40  C. ; 
iodine  value,  103— 112;  and  saponification  value,  189-193. 
Optical  rotation,  slightly  dextrogyrate,  +  1  to-  +  9-  The  latter 
is  due  to  sesamin  C18H18Og  and  phytosterol.  Sesame  oil  con- 
sists essentially  of  the  glycerides  of  oleic  and  linoleic  acids,  with 
small  proportions  of  stearin,  palmitin,  and  myristin.  The  two 
principal  advantages  of  oil  of  sesamum  are  that  it  is  a  non-drying, 
or  rather  a  semi-drying  oil  and  that  it  does  not  readily  turn  rancid. 
The  best  qualities  are  largely  used  in  the  manufacture  of  oleo- 
margarine. 
OLEUM   SESAMI  SUPERIOR  TO  COTTONSEED  AND  OLIVE  OILS. 
It  is  official  in  most  of  the  foreign  pharmacopoeias  and  has  been 
admitted  to  the  recently  published  pharmacopoeias,  replacing  olive 
oil  in  a  great  many  galenical  preparations.  As  it  is  recognized 
by  the  Eragaenzungsbuch  (supplement  to  the  German  Pharmaco- 
poeia), it  will  undoubtedly  become  official  in  the  new  (5th)  edition 
of  the  Arzneibuch. 
The  colonial  addentum  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  permits 
the  use  of  sesame  oil  in  India,  the  African,  Eastern,  and  North 
American  colonies,  in  the  preparation  of  the  official  liniments,  oint- 
*  Read  and  demonstrated  with  specimens  before  the  meeting  of  the 
N.  Y.  State  Pharmaceutical  Association,  June  21,  1910,  at  Saratoga  Springs. 
