Sesamum indicum seed
LATIN NAME: Sesamum indicum
COMMON NAME: Sesame
LATIN NAME: Sesamum indicum
COMMON NAME: Sesame
Sesame is the small, upright, drought-tolerant herb of the warm lands, and its tiny, oil-rich seeds have been one of the great foods of the world for thousands of years. The upright plant carries the narrow, softly hairy leaves and the small, tubular, pink or white flowers, and the small, upright, square seed-capsules follow, holding the rows of the tiny, flat, cream, brown or black seeds. The seeds are pressed for their fine oil and used whole on the breads, the sweets and the salads. It is a fine, generous, easy crop of the warm, sunny, well-drained garden.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
Sesame has a strong and well-documented place in the plant science, and the tiny, oil-rich seeds have been studied for a very long time as one of the great oilseed crops of the world. Researchers have looked at the fine, stable oil of the seeds, which keeps well and does not easily go rancid, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the oilseed crops and the food science. The breeding of the improved, higher-yielding varieties is an active field, and the plant is a regular subject of the studies of the warm-climate oilseeds. The science here is deep, careful and of the greatest practical value.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Sesame is one of the great food and oil crops of the warm world, and the tiny seeds are pressed for their fine, stable oil and used whole on the breads, the rolls, the sweets, the sauces and the salads. The ground seeds give the tahini of the eastern kitchens, and the oil is prized for its fine flavour and its long keeping. The plant is a tough, drought-tolerant, easy crop of the warm, sunny, well-drained ground, and it has drawn attention in the international agricultural and the food press for its long history and its many uses.
Sesame is one of the oldest of the cultivated crops, and the tiny, oil-rich seeds have been pressed and eaten for thousands of years across the warm world. The seeds are pressed for their fine, stable oil, which keeps well and does not easily go rancid, and the ground seeds give the tahini of the eastern kitchens. The tiny, flat seeds are also used whole on the breads, the rolls, the sweets, the sauces and the salads, and the dark seeds keep their fine flavour as well as the pale ones. It is a tough, drought-tolerant, easy crop of the warm, sunny, well-drained ground.
To grow the sesame from seed, sow the tiny, flat seeds at a shallow depth in pots of moist, free-draining soil in the warm season, cover them very lightly, then keep them in a warm, bright, sunny spot and water gently. The seedlings come up within a week and grow on fast in the warmth. Give them the sun, the warmth and the well-drained soil, and let the soil dry a little between the waterings, and the tiny, oil-rich seed-capsules will be there by the end of the warm season.
Description:
NAME: Sesame
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Sesamum Indicum
COLOR: White, Pink, & Purple
PLANT SEEDS: Outdoors after frost / Indoors weeks before last frost
BLOOM TIME: Mid Summer
HARVEST: 80 Days
HARDINESS ZONE: N/A (but reseeds itself easily, so it acts like a perennial in all zones)
PLANT HEIGHT: 36 – 48″
PLANT SPACING: 12 – 15″
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Sun
SOIL & WATER PREFERENCES: Average
OTHER: Now you can grow your own edible sesame seeds right at home! I was very pleasantly surprised to find out just how lovely this plants flowers are!