Common Name:

General Information

Sesamum alatum is an erect, annual plant with a stem up to 1.5 metres tall that can be unbranched or sparsely branched[].
The plant is mainly harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine. It is often allowed to grow in fields amongst other crops and it is cultivated as a food crop in Ghana, E Sudan and Angola[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - widely distributed in the drier areas if Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to S. Africa.

Habitat

Dry savannah; it is often common around villages and is sometimes tolerated as a weed in fields[]. It is often found on sandy soils, in river beds, grassland and open bushland, or as a weed in fields, often in cultivated sesame[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	1.50 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Semi-cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the drier tropics.

The plant is sometimes a weed within its native range[].

Edible Uses

Leaves and young shoots - cooked and eaten as a vegetable[, , ]. Mucilaginous[]. Fruits are eaten in Sudan and are used for oil production.

Seed - cooked as a relish or boiled with pumpkin leaves and served with a staple food.[, ]. They are ground into a flour and used in soups etc[].

An oil is extracted from the seeds[, ].

Medicinal

The seed is used as an aphrodisiac and to cure diarrhoea and other intestinal disorders[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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