Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), an underexploited oil seed crop: Current status, features and importance – A review

Abstract

Sesame is important oilseed crop of tropical and sub tropical region, renowned for its high oil content (up to 60% oil), hence sesame is known as the king of oil seeds. Sesame seed oil contains 83% - 90% unsaturated fatty acids, 20% proteins and various minor nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, large amount of characteristic lignans, such as sesamin, sesamol, sesamolin and tocopherols. Sesame seeds with high amounts of nutritional components are consumed as a traditional health food for its specific antihypertensive effect, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activity. Besides food, sesame also finds its uses in application areas such as pharmaceutics, industrial, and as biofuel. Sesame is used as active ingredients in antiseptics, bactericides, viricides, disinfectants, moth repellants, and anti-tubercular agents. In spite of being a good source of “healthy oil” in terms of presence of high amounts of PUFA and high antioxidant content, it is not grown on a large extent due to very poor yields. Therefore, serious efforts are necessary for selecting varieties of good quality and high adaptive potential to the diverse climatic situations. There should be effective strategies adapted to produce climate ready sesame variety using modern biotechnological approach.

Assessment of genetic diversity in Moroccan sesame (Sesamum indicum) using ISSR molecular markers

“…It is predominantly a selfpollinated diploid plant (2n = 26), with seeds that are rich in oil (50-60%) and antioxidants (Uzun et al, 2007). It is a source of protein, high-quality edible oil with elevated level of polyunsaturated fatty acids and various minor nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and important characteristic antioxidant lignans (sesamin, sesamolin, sesamol) (Dar and Arumugam, 2013;Pathak et al, 2017). Sesame seeds and their oil, having long been used for human consumption and different industrial purposes, have recently attracted much attention due to the high oil quality, with high content of oleic and linoleic acids (Dar et al, 2019a).…”

A randomized, triple‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical trial, evaluating the sesamin supplement effects on proteolytic enzymes, inflammatory markers, and clinical indices in women with rheumatoid arthritis

“…In particular, increased amounts of these proinflammatory cytokine products in RA joints promote the up‐regulation of degrading enzymes at the site of inflammation. Although the beneficial effects of sesame oil or its lignans on inflammation have been shown in several animal models (Pathak et al, ), studies on the antiinflammatory effects of these compounds in human studies are very limited. Sesamin antiinflammatory property may be related to inhibition of the free radicals generation, reducing the oxidation of LDL, decreasing the levels of enzymatic and nonenzymatic inflammatory markers, and inhibiting the inflammatory pathways such as Kβ‐NF and preserving of serum antioxidants (Selvarajan, Narasimhulu, Bapputty, & Parthasarathy, ).…”

“…Results of another study clarified that sesamin inhibited the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation through the suppressing of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), which are the main pathways that regulate cytokine production. Based on this results, it is also possible that sesamin could protect against cartilage degradation in other joint diseases such as RA (Hashempour-Baltork, Torbati, Azadmard-Damirchi, & Savage, 2016;Pathak, Rahman, Bhagawati, & Gogoi, 2017). Generally, most studies in inflammatory diseases are limited to animal studies that examine the effects of sesame or its compounds (sesame oil or lignans) on animal models of osteoarthritis or arthritis caused by collagen, and some in vitro studies have also been done in this regard (Hsieh et al, 2011).…”

Sesame Meal, Vitamin E and Selenium Influence Goats’ Antioxidant Status

“…Lignans belongs to the natural antioxidant family, and their impact on the antioxidant enzymes’ activities, and on the oxidative stress indicators of blood plasma and milk have been determined in flax meal-fed cows [ 15 ]. However, the lignans of sesame (sesaminol, sesamin, sesamol and sesamolin) have a different chemical structure and strong antioxidant index [ 16 , 17 ] but, to the best of our knowledge, their role in the antioxidant capacity of ruminant organisms and milk have not been studied so far.…”