Sesame is an ancient cultivation. Known at least 2 centuries before the birth of Christ, the Sesame plant had probably its origin in Central Africa; the exact origin cannot be determined today. Sesame seed is one of the oldest oil plants cultivated both in India and Africa. It was cultivated for some thousand years in countries between Euphrates and Tigris. It spread very early to China, Japan and to the Mediterranean countries.

The African slaves brought Sesame seeds to America and they cultivated it in the south, where it was used to thicken food and to add flavor to their typical African meals. Nowadays it is an essential condiment in the United States and Europe.
Sesame grows today in all warmer zones near the equator. Main cultivation areas are in India, China, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico and is cultivated abundantly in Egypt too.

Common Name: SESAME
Family: pedaliaceae
Range: Africa, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Germany, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Java, Johore, Kurdistan, Malaya, Mexico, Turkey, Venezuela
Action: abortifacient, anti diarrheal, aphrodisiac, bechic, cathartic, demulcent, diuretic, emmenagogue, emollient, lactogogue, laxative, pediculicide, tonic
Ailment: burns, cancer, catarrh, children's ailments, colic, common cold, cough, deafness, dysentery, earache, eruptions, female ailments, labor, leprosy, ophthalmia, piles, rheumatism, tumor, women's ailments, wounds
Contains: alanine, arginine, phenylalanine, vitamin B1, vitamin E, vitamin T
Indigenous Use: Aztec, Cherokee, Santal
Use: food, medicine

Ajonjoli - Sesame Link

Aztec's Use of Sesame

The Aztec would use the seeds as a laxative and the powder as a nutritional food.