| Sesamum alatum | |
|---|---|
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| A flowering winged-seed sesame near Kruger National Park in South Africa. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Pedaliaceae |
| Genus: | Sesamum |
| Species: | S. alatum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Sesamum alatum Thonn.
| |
Sesamum alatum is a species of flowering plant in the Pedaliaceae. It is in the same genus as sesame. In English it is called winged-seed sesame.[1] Its native range spans from Western Sahara to Egypt and south to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.[2]
The scientific name for the genus Sesamum derives from Latin sesamum and Greek sēsamon; which in return derive from ancient Semitic languages, akin to Akkadian šamaššamu.[3] The roots of the words generally referred to "oil" or "liquid fat".[4][5] The scientific name for the species alatum comes from the neuter form of Latin alatus meaning "winged".[6]
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It is an annual erect herb, reaching heights of 50 to 150 cm. It has heteromorphic leaves deeply divided into narrow, linear-lanceolate lobes; the upper leaves are simple, with the exception of some mucilage glands with an entire margin.[7]
Its flowers measure 3.5 cm in diameter and are reddish pink with darker lines in the lower lobe of the corolla. The fruit is an obconical capsule with a beak. The seeds are winged at both ends and edible.[8]
The seeds are edible and can be eaten raw, cooked, pulverized into a powder, or pressed to make oil. In Sudan the seed is both pressed for oil and the seed pods of the plant are eaten.[9] The oil content of winged-seed sesame contains higher amounts of oleic acid and palmitic acid, but lower amounts of linoleic acid than Sesamum Indicum.[10] In Chad, where in the local Arabic dialect they are known as Sumsum al rhazal the leaves are eaten.[11] They are a cultivated crop in some areas of Ghana and the young shoots are edible with a mucilaginous texture; being cooked and eaten as a vegetable.[12]
The Shona call the plant guzozo[13] and throughout its native rage, locals use the plant as an aphrodisiac, a cure to diarrhoea and various intestinal disorders.[14] Antidiabetic Renoprotective activity has been claimed to be present in the plant which are said to combat Type 2 Diabetes and other metabolic disorder, characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, although the exact compounds that are responsible for that activity has yet to be discovered.[15]
