Sesame oil

Description

A yellowish, semidrying oil expressed from flat sesame seeds on the Sesamum indicum plant native to Asia and Africa. Sesame oil contains linoleic acid (35-50%, oleic acid (35-50%), stearic acid (3-6%), palmitic acid (7-12%) along with small amounts of other acids (myristic, sesamic and sesamolic) (Serpico and White 2000). It was used in ancient times for lamp oil and soaps. Sesame oil is now used for cooking and salads.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Sesamum indicum; aceite de sésamo (Esp.); huile de sésame (Fr.); olio di sesamo (It); benne oil; teel oil; gingilli oil; sextra

Risks

• Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Soluble in chloroform, ether, carbon disulfide. Slightly soluble in ethanol. Insoluble in water.
• Saponification number = 188-195
• Iodine number = 103-122
• CAS = 8008-74-0
• Density = 0.916-0.920 g/ml
• Refractive Index = 1.4650-1.4665

Resources and Citations

• M.Serpico, R.White, "Oil, fat and wax" in Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, P.Nicholson, I.Shaw (eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 390-429.

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 702

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• A.Lucas, J.R.Harris, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd., London, 4th edition, 1962

• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 8614

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998