Closely related to, and often confused with, Sesamum calycinum; it is sometimes included in that species as Sesamum calycinum angustifolium.

Common Name:

General Information

Sesamum angustifolium is an erect, annual to perennial plant growing up to 2 metres tall. Plants can be with or without side branches[, ].
The leaves and seeds are often harvested from wild plants and consumed locally. The plant is occasionally cultivated as a vegetable and oil crop, and is sold at local markets[, ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Eastern Tropical Africa - Kenya, Zaire and Uganda, south to Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi.

Habitat

Waste places and as a weed of cultivation[]. Common along roadsides, in grassland and as a weed in fields, at elevations from sea-level to 2,000 metres[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	2.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a sunny position.
The plant is a weed of cultivation in parts of Africa.
Young shoots can be harvested about 6 weeks after sowing[]. If water availability and soil fertility allow, then harvesting can be repeated about 6 times because the plant recovers from the base[]. When the plant starts flowering and fruiting the shoots become too woody for vegetable use[].

Edible Uses

Leaves and young shoots cooked[, ]. The taste is mild to sour - they are a popular vegetable in some areas but in others are considered a famine food, eaten when nothing else is available[]. Because they are mucilaginous the leaves are often chopped and cooked together with other ingredients including: other leaf vegetables such as Corchorus spp; peas and beans; and to thicken sauces that are eaten with the staple food[, ]. The unpleasant smell of raw chopped leaves mostly disappears with cooking[]. The leaves and young shoots can be dried and stored for later use[].

Seed - cooked[]. They are usually ground into a powder then cooked in sauces or soups[].

Te seeds yield about 30% of an edible oil, which is pale to dark yellow and odourless[].

Medicinal

The whole plant, except the roots, is an ingredient of oxytocic medicines in N Nigeria, to hasten childbirth and to ease pain[].

The mucilage obtained from leaves rubbed in water is used to treat eye troubles, burns, wounds, stomach-ache, diarrhoea in children and to ease labour and delivery[].

A root decoction is used to treat cough[]. An infusion of the powdered roots is drunk to cure diarrhoea and other intestinal disorders[].

The seed oil is used to treat ringworm[].

Other Uses

The crushed leaves are used as a soap substitute, rubbed into the hair when washing it to give it a glossy look[]. They are also said to treat baldness[].

The sticky, crushed leaves have been used to trap tsetse flies on cattle, a fresh application giving protection for about 4 hours[].

The oil from the seeds has been suggested as suitable for the manufacture of soap[].

Propagation

Seed -

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