Sesame Products
Sesame claims the top spot as being the oldest known plant oil that was used by humankind. Still favoured in the Middle East as the preferred crop for cooking oil, the sesame plant can withstand drought and extreme heat making it the best plant for the hot environments. At Indigo Herbs we have gathered a range of some of the best organic seed to be used in various dishes or eaten whole. Our Organic Sesame Seeds are just one addition to this range to compliment a varied and balanced diet. We also sell Organic Raw Black Sesame Tahini and Organic Raw White Sesame Tahini which are some of the very best sesame pastes on the market.
The start to the long road for traders thousands of years ago most probably started with the distribution of sesame oil or seeds. The wild species named ‘Sesamum’ are thought to have all originated in sub-Saharan Africa while the first cultivated variety, ‘Sesame Indicum’, is thought to have come from the Indian Archipelago or the Spice Islands. Many archaeological digs have found the remains of sesame seeds in whole form or charred from burning. Most of these findings have been throughout the Middle East where the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians ruled and can be dated as far back as 3,500 BC. Looking back even further Sesame Seeds are mentioned in Indian mythology which could place this seed with the emergence of the first civilisations. The word Sesame comes from the Arabic ‘simsim’, the Coptic ‘semsem’ and the early Egyptian ‘Semsent’
A tall plant that can grow up to about 1 meter or over. The nodes of the stem are elongated with large opposite leaves sprouting from them. Flowers are tubular and usually yellow although white, blue and purple sesame flowers are not uncommon. The pod that contains the sesame seeds grow from the apex of the leaf node very close to the stem with each pod containing many seed. The sesame plant can grow in the most inhospitable conditions requiring little moisture because of an extensive root system. The drawback is that the seeds need a great deal of water to germinate.