The ancient oilseed sesame has been used in Africa and Asia since antiquity. Reports indicate the pre-eminence of sesame as a major herbaceous oil crop grown across much of temperate and tropical Asia and Africa, particularly on arid and marginal lands. Its tolerance of drought and high temperatures make it well-suited to lands where few other crops can survive, and it persists today as an important crop in India, China, Sudan, and some regions of Tanzania and Uganda. Sesame is rich in the limiting amino acid methionine, and provides a valuable source of nutritious protein as well as high quality oil that resists oxidative rancidity due to the presence of the phenylpropanoid lignans sesamin and sesamolin. Bedigian has documented its use for culinary, medicinal and other purposes.
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Sesamum orientale L. Multiple Use plant
Practical uses
Food: seed crushed for edible oil, seeds in sesame balls: sweets sold in markets, and bus stops
Health: emollient, laxative, antioxidant
Rich source of methionine, a limiting amino acid
Rich source of calcium
Construction of shelters for shade or implement storage
Inspirational Uses
Oral traditions, e.g. Sudanese proverb: Like simsim, if you don't crush it, you can't get oil
Opportunistic Uses
Kindling - spent stalks saved and used in ovens
Ashes - added to sauces for mineral nutrients
Ecological Role
Drought tolerant
Deep taproots
Persistent capsules hold seed despite its shattering dispersal
Economic Benefits of Sesame
Subsistence food
Possesses natural protection against rancidity; stable
Insecticide [especially synergistic with pyrethrin]
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DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN
[email protected]
Research Associate
Missouri Botanical Garden and Biology Department, Washington University, St. Louis.
2004 Nominee: Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources conservation, Crop Science Society of America, for lifetime professional service.
1998 National Geographic Society Research and Exploration grant (NGS 6218-98): Distribution and Usage of Wild Relatives of Sesame in Africa.
1994 Knight Foundation Grant: Individual Faculty Travel Abroad Award: field research in western Kenya.
1993 Knight Foundation Grant for course development: African Environments in Crises.
1992 University of Illinois Center for African Studies, Regional Africanist Fellowship: Library research grant.
1985 MIT Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology - Prehistoric Agriculture course stipend.
Presentations at professional meetings, 2002-2003:
Assessment of Sesame and its Wild Relatives in Africa. Association pour l?Etude Taxonomique et Floristique in Afrique Tropicale [AETFAT], Addis Ababa, September 21-26, 2003.
Slimy Leaves and Oily Seeds: Distribution and use of Sesamum and Ceratotheca in Africa. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa [PROTA] First International Workshop, ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya, September 23-25, 2002.
Status and Importance of the Oilseed Sesame in Africa. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa [PROTA] First International Workshop, ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya, September 23-25, 2002.
History and Lore of Sesame in Southwest Asia. 6th Plant Life of Southwest Asia Symposium, Y�z�nc� Yil University, Van, Turkey, June 10-16, 2002.
PUBLICATIONS:
Bedigian, D. 2004. [Accepted February 18, 2004]. Assessment of Sesame and its Wild Relatives in Africa. Proceedings, AETFAT Congress, Addis Ababa September 21-26, 2003. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Bedigian, D. 2004. [cover story and featured article]. History and Lore of Sesame in Southwest Asia. Economic Botany 58(3).
Bedigian, D. 2004. [In press]. The Importance of Botanical Data to Historical Research on Africa. Pages 163-182 in J.E. Philips, ed. Writing African History: Methods and Sources. Rochester University Press, NY.
Bedigian, D. 2004. [In review]. Slimy Leaves and Oily Seeds: Distribution and Use of Wild Relatives of Sesame in Africa. Economic Botany 58: xxx-xxx.
Bedigian, D. 2004. Ceratotheca sesamoides. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa [PROTA]. Vol 2. G. Grubbin, ed. Backhuys, Leiden.
Bedigian, D. 2004. Sesamum radiatum. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa [PROTA]. Vol 2. G. Grubbin, ed. Backhuys, Leiden.
Bedigian, D. nd. Pedaliaceae. Pages xxx in J. van der Maesen, ed. Flore Analytique du Benin. Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands. [Accepted December 2001]
Bedigian, D. 2003. Evolution of Sesame Revisited: Domestication, Diversity and Prospects. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 50: 779-787.
Bedigian, D. 2003. Sesame in Africa: Origin and Dispersals. Pages 17-36 in K. Neumann, A. Butler and S. Kahlheber, eds. Food, Fuel and Fields - Progress in African Archaeobotany. Africa Praehistorica. Heinrich-Barth-Institute, Cologne.
Bedigian, D. and J. van der Maesen. 2003. Slimy Leaves and Oily Seeds: Distribution and Use of Sesamum spp. and Ceratotheca sesamoides (Pedaliaceae) in Africa. Pages 271-274 in G.H. Schmelzer and B.A. Omino, eds. Proceedings of the First PROTA [Plant Resources of Tropical Africa] International Workshop, Nairobi. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Bedigian, D. and J. van der Maesen. 2003. Status and importance of the oilseed sesame in Africa. Pages 274-275 in G.H. Schmelzer and B.A. Omino, eds. Proceedings of the First PROTA [Plant Resources of Tropical Africa] International Workshop, Nairobi. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Bedigian, D. 2000. Sesame. Pages 411-421 in K.F. Kiple and C.K. Ornelas-Kiple, eds. The Cambridge World History of Food. Vol I. Cambridge University Press, NY.
Bedigian, D. 1998. Early history of sesame cultivation in the Near East and beyond. Pages 93-101 in A.B. Damania, J. Valkoun, G. Willcox and C.O. Qualset, eds. The Origins of Agriculture and Crop Domestication. The Harlan Symposium. ICARDA, Aleppo.
Bedigian, D. 1991. Genetic diversity of traditional sesame cultivars and cultural diversity in Sudan. Pages 25-36 in M.L. Oldfield and J.B. Alcorn, eds. Biodiversity: Culture, Conservation and Ecodevelopment. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
Bedigian, D. 1988. Sesamum indicum L. (Pedaliaceae): Ethnobotany in Sudan, crop diversity, lignans, origin, and related taxa. Pages 25: 315-321 in P. Goldblatt and P.P. Lowry, eds. Modern Systematic Studies in African Botany. Association pour l?Etude Taxonomique et Floristique in Afrique Tropicale. Monographs in Systematic Botany, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO.
Bedigian, D. and J.R. Harlan. 1986. Evidence for cultivation of sesame in the ancient world. Economic Botany 40: 137-154.
Bedigian, D., C.A. Smyth and J.R. Harlan. 1986. Patterns of morphological variation in sesame. Economic Botany 40: 353-365.
Bedigian, D. 1985. Is ?e-gi?-i sesame or flax? Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2: 159-178.
Bedigian, D., D.S. Seigler and J.R. Harlan. 1985. Sesamin, sesamolin and the origin of sesame. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 13: 133-139.
Bedigian, D. 1984. Sesamum indicum L. Crop origin, diversity, chemistry and ethnobotany. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. University Microfilms DA8502071, Dissertation Abstracts International 45, 1985: 3410-B.
Bedigian, D. and J.R. Harlan. 1983. Nuba agriculture and ethnobotany with particular reference to sesame and sorghum. Economic Botany 37: 384-395.
Bedigian, D. 1981. Origin, diversity, exploration and collection of sesame. Pages 164-169 in Sesame: Status and Improvement. FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 29. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
Descriptors for Sesame. 1981. International Board for Plant Genetic Resources. AGP:IBPGR/80/71. IBPGR Secretariat, Rome (designated Contributor).
PUBLISHED COMMENTARY ABOUT CONTRIBUTIONS:
Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter #70: 49-50 (FAO 1987), concerning ?Patterns of Morphological Variation in Sesamum indicum.? Economic Botany 40: 353-365, 1986. ?The results showed patterns of geographic and ecological races and the paper is well worth reading on methods of analysis.?
