 Botany
Liñga is an erect, annual, hairy herb,
50 to 80 centimeters in height. Leaves are oblong or ovate, 3 to 10 centimeters long, the lower ones lobed,
the middle ones toothed, and the uppermost subentire. Leaf stalks
are from 1 to 5 centimeters long. Sepals are lanceolate, 6 to 7 millimeters long and imbricate.
Corolla is about 3 centimeters long, hairy and whitish, or with purplish, red,
or yellow marks. Stamens are 4, inserted. Fruits are capsules, 2- or 4-celled, oblong, about 2.5
centimeters long, erect, and splitting halfway or quite to the base at maturity.
Seeds are small and black.
Distribution
- Cultivated here and there throughout the Philippines.
- Often occurs in open waste places as an escape plant.
- Native of tropical Asia.
- Now pantropic.
Properties
- The white or yellow-seeded varieties provide the best grade of oil, while the dark red, brown, or black-seeded varieties give an inferior grade of oil.
- Has a high percentage of fixed oil
which can be used as an antirheumatic in massage treatment.
- Sesame oil, also known as pil or gingelly, has a pale yellow color, a pleasant odor and taste.
- Neither warming nor cooling.
- Seeds are considered emollient, nourishing, tonic, diuretic, and lactagogue.
- Oil considered demulcent, emollient, diuretic, emmenagogue, lactagogue and laxative.
Constituents
• Seed contain fixed oil,
47-59%; saccharose, pentosan, lecithin; choline; phytine; globuline, 22%; sesamin.
• The oil consists of olein, linolein, palmitin, and stearin; fatty acids consist of oleic, linoleic, linolenic, palmitic, palmitoleic,
stearic, eicosenoic.
• Study on the chemical constituents of the flowers of Sesamum
indicum yielded six flavones: apigenin, ladanetin, ladanetin-6-O-beta-D-glucoside,
apigenin-7-O-glucuronic acid, pedalitin, and pedalitin-6-O-glucoside.
• Seeds yield lignan, lignan glycosides, and sterols; phenylethanoid glycosides from the whole plant, and phenolic acids from the leaves and seeds.
• A petroleum ether fraction of an alcoholic extract yielded sesamin, sesamolin, stigmasterol, ß-sitosterol, and stigmasterol-3-O-ß-D-glucoside. A butanol fraction yielded ferulic acid, rhamnetin, verbascoside, kaempferol-3-O-ß-D-glucorunide, and mequelianin (quercetin-3-O--D-glucuronide).
Parts used and preparation
· Seeds
· Collect seeds as soon as the fruits
ripen, harvest the above ground portion, sun-dry and collect the seeds,
dry again.
 Uses
Edibility / Culinary
· Whole seeds used by bakers in making cakes and sweetmeats.
· Used for cooking; for margarine; also used to adulterate olive oil.
Folkloric
· For chronic constipation, roasted seeds are taken alone, with honey, or
mixed liberally with other foods.
· Oil extracted from seeds used as antirheumatic in massage therapy.
· Burned stalks applied to hemorrhoids.
· Leaves, which abound in the gummy matter, mixed with water to form a bland mucilage used for infantile cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, catarrh, cystitis, and strangury.
· Plaster of ground seeds applied to burns and scalds.
· Leaves with equal parts of sesame
oil and lime water are a popular dressing for burns and scalds.
· Decoction of seeds
with linseed used for coughs and as aphrodisiac.
· Lotion made from roots and leaves used as a hair wash; also used to promote hair growth and make it black.
· Decoction of seeds laxative for children.
· The oil of seed used for treatment of ulcers and suppurating wounds.
· White seeds promote menstruation.
· Diseases of the kidney or liver associated
with dizziness, tinnitus, and haziness of vision: get see preparation
from 8 to 14 gms and mix with equal volume of Morus leaf preparation.
Powder, add honey and water and drink.
· Seeds ground to a paste with water, given with butter, for bleeding piles.
· In large quantities, seeds capable of producing abortion.
· Alopecia (baldness) due to prolonged illness: fry seeds, crush
and add sugar, then eat 1 to 2 tbsp daily.
· In Sierra Leone the mucilaginous juice of the plant is used by women to destroy
headlice.
· In India, seeds
used for wound healing.
· In Yucatan, seeds given as laxative to children.
· Seeds and oil used as emmenagogue.
· Malays use the oil in tonics.
· In Africa, decoction of leaves used as aphrodisiac. Decoction of plant used for malaria. Leaves chewed as alternative to tobacco. Powdered leaf applied to snake bites. Decoction of seeds used for hemorrhoids and regulation of the menstrual cycle.
· In European medicine the oil was once used pulmonary tuberculosis.
Others
· Perfumery: Oil use in perfumery in Europe, North America and India.
· Lotion from leaves and roots used for healthy hair growth and color
restoration.
Studies
• Antioxidant / Analgesic
: (1) Free Radical Scavenging Behavior
of Antioxidant Compounds of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) in DPPH•
System. (2) Study observed antioxidant and analgesic activity
of the ethanol extract of seeds of SI with inhibition of writhing response
comparable to ibuprofen. Study also showed an antioxidant activity compared
to standard antioxidant ascorbic acid.
• Antioxidant / Neuroprotective: Lignans and tocopherols, identified as major antioxidants in Sesamum indicum have also been reported to have protective effects against neurodegenerative disease. Sesame seeds and its antioxidants may be a potent natural agent with both therapeutic and preventive applications in neurodegenerative diseases in humans.
• Lipid Effects: Effect of Sesame
Oil on Serum Lipids in Rats: Sesame oil increased S cholesterol and
LDL-C in hypercholesterolemic diet fed rats, with no significant effects
on serum lipids of normocholesterolemic rats.
• Acetylcholine-like
Substance: Alcoholic extract of seeds of Sesamum indicum
caused hypotensive effects in anesthetized rats. It also caused decreased
rate and force of atrial contractions; contractile responses in rat
uterus. The results indicate that the alcoholic extract of SI contain
acetylcholine-like constituents that explains its folkloric use.
• Wound Healing:
Sesamum indicum seeds and oil applied topically showed wound
healing activity with significant reduction in period of epithelization
and wound contraction.
• Health Effects of
Sesame Oil: Study on the effect of SI in hypertensive
diabetics on atenolol and sulfonylurea showed reduction in systolic
and diastolic BP, decrease in glucose, HbA1C, LDL and TC, with increase
in activities of enzymic and non-enzymic levels of antioxidants.
• Fertility Effects: Study of the ethanolic extract of Sesamum indicum, vitamin C and SI+VC promote fertility from their testosterone-increasing effects and their antioxidant effects.
• Insecticidal: Sesamin has been shown to be insecticidal and is synergistic to pyrethrum.
• Physiochemical Properties of Sesame Oil: Study showed (1) the acid value which is the index of free fatty acid content due to enzymatic activity was very low (2) No potential for soap making (3) High peroxide value (4) seed oils were cyanide free (5) seeds are a good source of oil, with a seed content of 50% light yellow crude oil with a pleasant smell.
• Residual Aerial Parts Composition / Antihyperglycemic / Antioxidant: A petroleum ether fraction of an alcoholic extract yielded sesamin, sesamolin, stigmasterol, ß-sitosterol, and stigmasterol-3-O-ß-D-glucoside. A butanol fraction yielded ferulic acid, rhamnetin, verbascoside, kaempferol-3-O-ß-D-glucorunide, and mequelianin (quercetin-3-O--D-glucuronide). Tested extracts exhibited a reductive effect on blood glucose of diabetic rats, attributed to possible inhibition of free radicals and inhibition of tissue damage induced by alloxan. ß-sitosterol and ferulic acid may have contributed to the hypoglycemic activity of the alcoholic extract. The alcoholic extract has a potential as an alternative natural antioxidant, antihyperglycemic and anticoagulant.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Cultivated for culinary use.
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