Sesame seeds

Sesame seeds (Sesanum indicum)

Sesame seeds are a superb food originating from the Middle East, where this versatile seed has found a variety of uses. Many traditional dishes, cookies and cakes, sweets and spreads include sesame seeds as one of the prime ingredients. The most common form in which sesame seeds are available is in the hulled form, which is the form of choice for spreads and sweets, as the unhulled form is slightly bitter. Sesame seeds should be crushed or ground into a paste before consumption, as the small seeds will pass through the intestine without being digested. If sesame seeds are ground until the oil is released, a paste is formed that is called Tahini. Tahini originated in Turkey and is a nutrient-rich spread that can substitute for butter. Other Middle Eastern delicacies include Halva, a sweet that is sesame-based. Moreover, sesame seeds can be used to make a wholesome milk which can be used as a substitute for cow’s milk, and can also be used in cooking or for making home-made ice-cream.

Sesame seeds contain almost 30% complete protein of good quality, with all the essential amino acids, particularly methionine, being present in substantial amounts. The oil in sesame seeds is a mixture of the glycerol esters of oleic and linoleic acids, and it also has some unique features. It contains the compound sesamin, a lignin from sesame oil, which lowers cholesterol levels by decreasing the rate of absorption from the intestine, increasing the rate of faecal excretion and inhibiting its formation in the liver.⁷⁴ Moreover, sesame seeds contain antioxidant substances⁷³ which act as preservatives and give the ground seeds and sesame oil a long shelf life. Sesame seeds are a good source of the minerals magnesium, zinc, calcium and iron, and the calcium levels are in fact, more than twenty times higher than in steak, and the iron concentration is more than three times as high as in steak. Of course, people would consume more steak than sesame seeds and, therefore, obtain more iron from this source than from the seeds, but if sesame seeds were regularly incorporated into foods such as bread or spreads, they could make a significant contribution to dietary mineral requirements.