Sesame oil is most popular in continental Asia, especially in East Asia and the South Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, where its widespread use is similar to that of olive oil in the Mediterranean. East Asian cuisines often use roasted sesame oil for seasoning during cooking, or at the table.
What is sesame oil?
1. Introduction Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the oldest cultivated oilseed crops, known for its resilient growth in arid conditions and highly valued seeds for their oil and nutritional content.
Can genetic engineering improve oil content and seed yield in sesame plants?
Genetic engineering techniques have been used to enhance the oil content and seed yield in sesame plants by targeting essential enzymes involved in oil synthesis, including diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), phospholipid diacylglycerol acyltransferases (PDAT), fatty acid desaturases (FAD), and cytochrome b 5 (Muthulakshmi et al., 2021).
Which countries produce the most sesame oil in the world?
This growth is attributed to factors such as rising demand for sesame oil and improved farming practices. Asia has supplied most of the world’s sesame for the past 60 years (Fig. 2). But since 2012, Africa has been the top producer, with 56.8% of global production (FAOSTAT 2024).