Common Name: False Sesame

General Information

False sesame is an annual plant growing up to 1.2 metres tall, sometimes with a woody rootstock. Growth can be erect, but the stems are more commonly prostrate with each plant producing 10 or more stems scrambling along the ground[, ].
A popular vegetable in many parts of Africa, where the plant is often harvested from the wild for local use of its edible seeds and leaves as well as its medicinal virtues. The plant is often protected when occurring as a weed and is also sometimes cultivated. The leaves and seeds are often sold in local markets[, , ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa from Senegal to Sudan and Kenya, south to Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique

Habitat

In open grassland and tree savannah on sandy soils, rarely among rocks, often in disturbed vegetation, sometimes recorded as a weed[]. A weed of cultivation and wasteland near villages on sandy soils, at elevations from 800 - 1,600 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	1.20 m
Pollinators	Self
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a sunny position[]. Prefers a well-drained, sandy soil in the wild[]. Established plants are drought tolerant[].
The regular removal of young shoots permits sustained vegetative growth and flowering, prolonging the productive period of the plant[].
The plant is covered with mucilage glands. These glands may enable the plant to withstand severe desiccation without tissue death; after contact with water, the outer cell walls of the head cells dissolve, producing an enormous amount of mucilage[].

Edible Uses

Leaves and young flowering shoots - cooked as a vegetable or added to soups[, , ]. They are mucilaginous[]. The leaves are collected, wilted in the sun, cooked alone or mixed with other vegetables such as peas or amaranth, groundnut paste added and eaten with ugali as the staple[]. The leaves can be dried in the sun with those of peas or amaranth, and then ground into a powder - this powder is then boiled into a thick paste, mixed with groundnut paste and eaten with ugali[].

Seed - used like sesame (Sesamum indicum) and also added to soups along with the leaves[, ]. They can be crushed to form a paste that is eaten with beans or cassava[].

An oil is obtained from the seeds[]. It is especially suited as a salad oil[].

Medicinal

The leaves, when eaten as a vegetable, act as a laxative[].
The leaves are steeped in water and the slimy liquid is dropped into the eye to treat conjunctivitis[]. The mucilage is occasionally used as an emollient and lubricant[]. The leaves are soaked in warm water and used as a lubricant by women during labour in order to hasten childbirth. The resulting slippery liquid is applied on the walls of the birth canal to facilitate passage of the baby[]. The leaves are ground with the rhizome of Anchomanes difformis and then applied topically in the treatment of leprosy[]. The leaves are warmed, ground, mixed with ash and rubbed on inflamed cervical lymph nodes[].

A decoction of the plant is used as a treatment against diarrhoea[].

Other Uses

The leaf powder is used as a hair lubricant[].

Adding the leaf sap to the boiling seed pulp of Vitellaria paradoxa while making shea butter aids with the separation of fat[].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ. Germination percentages are usually low[].

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