Chapter 122 - Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Seeds in Food, Nutrition, and Health

Abstract

This chapter outlines the nutritional and health benefits of sesame seeds. Sesame seeds have been used as a health food for disease prevention in Asian countries for several thousand years. They significantly increase plasma g-tocopherol and enhance vitamin E activity, which are believed to prevent human aging-related diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Culinary use of sesame seed includes the decoration of bread and cookies, to produce paste added to certain dishes, and in desserts such as sweetened tahin. Sesame oil is a cooking and salad oil. Nutritionally, sesame seeds are rich in oil with high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic and linoleic, protein, specially high levels of methionine, and micronutrients such as minerals, lignans, tocopherol, and phytosterol. Studies have shown that sesame oil can inhibit human colon cancer growth in vitro, lower blood pressure, decrease lipid peroxidation, and increase antioxidant status in hypertensive patients. In vitro and animal studies have shown that sesame seed is a rich source of mammalian lignan precursors, which may have protective effects against hormone-related diseases such as breast cancer. Sesamin, a major lignan of sesame seeds, exerts multiple functions, such as an antihypertensive effect, and cholesterol, lipid-lowering, and anticancer activities. It also induces growth inhibition in human cancer cells by regulating cyclin D1 protein expression in various kinds of human tumor cells. Sesame seed may induce allergenic symptoms such as urticaria/angioedema, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and even anaphylaxis.