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Ayurveda | Share This Page | |||
Ayurveda Medicinal Properties of Sesame |
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by Dr. Savitha Suri |
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Sesame is an oil crop which is widely grown in India and China. Sesame is a common ingredient in almost all cuisines around the world. With a rich nutty flavor, it has gained an important place on kitchen shelves.
![]() Sesame is an annual plant. This erect plant grows to a height of 40 to 90 cms. The leaves vary in size and shape. The flowers are bell shaped and vary in color (white, pale yellow, purple). The fruit of this plant is a capsule and contain small seeds. Upon ripening the fruit naturally splits and releases the seeds. The seeds have highest oil content than any other oil seeds.
The texts of ayurveda have described medicinal properties of sesame. It is known as “tila” in Sanskrit, “til” in hindi. Ayurveda acharyas describe three varieties of sesame based on colour of seeds. They are “Raktha (red), Krishna (black) and shweta(white)”. Usually Krishna tila or black sesame seeds are considered to have excellent medicinal properties and are recommended in ayurvedic treatments and ayurvedic preparations.
Sesame seeds contain approximately 50% oil and 25% protein. The oil of theses seeds contains about 47% oleic and 39% linoleic acid. Foods prepared with sesame oil have long shelf life, because the oil contains an antioxidant called sesamol. The residual sesame meal left after the oil pressing is rich in protein and used as an excellent protein supplement for live stock. Soaps prepared from this oil help to maintain skin health.
According to principles of ayurveda sesame is heavy to digest and increases moistness of tissues. It tastes sweet and has hot potency (ushna). The seeds and oil are used for medicinal purposes.
Ayurveda medicinal properties of sesame:
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22-Jul-2012 | ||||
More by : Dr. Savitha Suri | ||||
Top | Ayurveda | ||||
Views: 8309 Comments: 1 | ||||
Comments on this Article
Shiv Charan Das Sharma 09/29/2012 07:59 AM |
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