Sesame
Sesame is an oil plant containing 50-60% of oil and 25% of protein in its seeds. Sesame comes after sunflower, poppy and rapeseed in terms of planting. Sesame is produced in China, Nigeria, Somalia, Mexico and Turkey the most. Total sesame production in the world is close to 3.4 million tons. 25% of this production is in India, 23% is in China, 12% is in Sudan, 4% is in Nigeria, 1% is in Somalia, 1% is in Turkey, 1% is in Mexico and the rest of 33% of this production is produced in other countries. There are explanations about sesame seeds in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions from the years of 2350 B.C.
Sesame is an annual herbaceous plant. It is used as a liquid as well as margarine. Its oil is fragrant and yellow in color and Thanks to sesamol and sesamin it contains, the oil in its content is prevented from spoiling. It is also used in the production of tahini and tahini halva and in bakery products such as dry cakes and bagels rather than the use of cooking oil. Apart from its usage in the production of cosmetics and soup, it has an area of use as animal feed due to its high-quality pulp.
Herbal Properties
Sesame is a plant belonging to the genus Sesamum indicum, a subclass of the genus Sesamum. While its history in Turkey dates back to very old times, it appears that its history is based on 19th century according to the official records. Its largest cultivation is done in the Southeast region of Turkey with 35% and this rate is followed by Mediterranean region with 30%, Aegean region with 25% and Marmara region with 10%, respectively. After Şanlıurfa, the most sesame cultivation is done in Adana, Antalya, Çanakkale, Muğla, Edirne, İçel, Balıkesir, Manisa and Aydın.
Sesame fruit is called capsule. Unlike flowers, the capsules face up. The fruits that are green before ripening period turn into a brownish color with ripening. Fruits that stand upright during the ripening period cannot survive too much without spilling at harvest time. Its surface is rough and the seed colors become white, yellow, brown and black. The sesame plant has a pile root that can go 1-1.5 m deep. With this feature, it is not affected by drought. Plant height is 60-120 cm in average and its stems are pilous or glabrous. The leaves show a mutual, alternating arrangement towards the tip until the 3rd and 6th internodes in the main stem. The edges of the leaves are dentate, straight, sometimes slit-shaped or 3-piece. The leaves at the bottom are large and wide, narrow towards the tip and long. Single or 3 flowers come out of axils. 5 sepals are united at the bottom, the ends are separate and pointed, they are slightly pilous. Flowering occurs from the bottom to up and occurs 1-1.5 months after the plant emergence. Blooming and fertilization happens on the same day.
Characteristics of Sesame Farming
Sesame loves heat and grows in the warm regions of the tropical – subtropic climate zone. In the 90-120 day development period, the monthly temperature average should not fall below 20 °C and the seeds should be at least 12-15 °C and optimum 20-25 °C in order to germinate. It grows well in sandy, clayey, alluvial, light soils, rich in medium-organic matter with good drainage. Since the seeds with high germination power are small, the output power is weak. It is necessary to prepare a good soil and seed bed for its cultivation. The main product is planted in April – May, and the second product is planted in the first week of June or July.
For high efficiency; As a result of soil analysis, 8-10 kg nitrogen and 8-10 kg phosphorus should be given as a pure substance per decare and 6-8 kg of potassium should be given if the soil is not sufficient. Moreover, regular irrigation should be carried out and it should be given importance to weed intervention and field cleaning. Harvesting should be done with the condition of manual dismantling or cutting near ground. Since the capsules on the upper parts of the harvested plants continue to develop for a while, 15-20 of them are tied together and pressed on a clean ground for 5-7 days. The bundles removed from the press are made of 8-10 bundles stacked together on a concrete or flat ground. Bundles are shaken on canvas or clean covers after 8-15 days for threshing. The cleaned product is stored in sacks or put onto the market.
Benefits of Sesame
Sesame has a rich nutrient content and provides important nutritional contributions to tahini and halva. It is a nourishment especially rich in protein, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin E.
While 100 gr halva has a minimum of 10 grams of protein (25% of the recommended daily amount), 225 mg of calcium (32% of daily need), 400 mg of phosphorus (50% of daily need), 2.4 mg of vitamin E (24% of daily need); In 100 g of tahini, there are 17 g of protein (34% of the recommended daily amount) 426 mg of calcium (3 times calcium in milk and 53% of the recommended daily amount) and 732 mg of Phosphorus (91% of daily need) and 4 mg of E vitamin (40% of daily need). In addition, sesame is very rich in omega 3 oil, which provides important benefits to heart health. Due to its high energy content (500 kcal / 100 g halva and 595 kcal / 100 g tahini), it is recommended to be consumed for children of development age, athletes and heavy workers. In addition, plenty of lecithin (vitamin E) C and B vitamins are also abundant in the tahini.
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