12.6 Phenolic Compounds
Phenolics like phenolic acid, sesamol, and chlorine containing naphthoquinone
occur in sesame in small amounts (Lyon 1972; Dabrowski and Sosulski 1984;
Shimoda et al. 1997).
Sesame seeds offer several health benefits like it aids in lowering cholesterol,
reduces inflammation, reduces the risk of cardiovascular and oxidative stress-related
diseases, and antimutagenic effects have also been reported (Chen et al. 2005;
Lazarou et al. 2007; Gouveia et al. 2016). Increasing evidences suggests that these
biological effects are due to the presence of sesamolin, sesaminol, and sesamolinol
which are abundantly present in sesame seeds (Kochhar 2002; Rangkadilok et al.
2010). The presence of flavonoids in sesame seed oil helps in enhancing the
antioxidant property which in turn helps in inhibiting the replication of human
colon cancer cells (Sani et al. 2013).
12.6.1 Phenolic Acids
Sesame seeds, oil, and cake contain several phenolic compounds like ferulic,
vanillic, cinnamic and p-coumaric acids, 4-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic acid,
gallic acid, and sesamin (Mohdaly et al. 2013; Ben Othman et al. 2015) which have
been reported to demonstrate important biological properties. Compounds like
sesamol, sesamin, sesamolin, sesaminol glucosides, and tocopherol provide sesame
oils protection against the autoxidation and therefore long shelf life (Chung 2004;
Suja et al. 2004).
12.6.2 Lignans
Lignan, a constituent of lignin, is formed by the coupling of two
p-hydroxyphenylpropane molecules by a bond between β-positions in the propane
side chains. Lignans constitute a group of important plant phenolics and exist in two
major groups, i.e., oil-soluble lignans and glycosylated water-soluble lignans.
Sesamin (167–804 mg/100 g seeds), sesamolin (48–279 mg/100 g seeds), sesaminol
(32–298 mg/100 g seeds), and sesamolinol (58 mg/100 g seeds) are the main
oil-soluble lignans present in sesame (Moazzami et al. 2006; Pathak et al. 2014).
However, higher amounts of sesamin (2.45 mg/g seed) and sesamolin (1.10 mg/g
seed) were observed for Indian sesame species when compared with 65 sesame seeds
harvested in Texas, USA (1.63 mg/g seed for sesamin and 1.01 mg/g seed for
sesamolin), and 403 sesame landraces of Korea (2.09 mg/g for sesamin and
1.65 mg/g for sesamolin) (Kim et al. 2006; Moazzami et al. 2006; Pathak et al.
2014). The major glycosylated lignans are sesaminol triglucoside, pinoresinol
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Phenolics like phenolic acid, sesamol, and chlorine containing naphthoquinone
occur in sesame in small amounts (Lyon 1972; Dabrowski and Sosulski 1984;
Shimoda et al. 1997).
Sesame seeds offer several health benefits like it aids in lowering cholesterol,
reduces inflammation, reduces the risk of cardiovascular and oxidative stress-related
diseases, and antimutagenic effects have also been reported (Chen et al. 2005;
Lazarou et al. 2007; Gouveia et al. 2016). Increasing evidences suggests that these
biological effects are due to the presence of sesamolin, sesaminol, and sesamolinol
which are abundantly present in sesame seeds (Kochhar 2002; Rangkadilok et al.
2010). The presence of flavonoids in sesame seed oil helps in enhancing the
antioxidant property which in turn helps in inhibiting the replication of human
colon cancer cells (Sani et al. 2013).
12.6.1 Phenolic Acids
Sesame seeds, oil, and cake contain several phenolic compounds like ferulic,
vanillic, cinnamic and p-coumaric acids, 4-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic acid,
gallic acid, and sesamin (Mohdaly et al. 2013; Ben Othman et al. 2015) which have
been reported to demonstrate important biological properties. Compounds like
sesamol, sesamin, sesamolin, sesaminol glucosides, and tocopherol provide sesame
oils protection against the autoxidation and therefore long shelf life (Chung 2004;
Suja et al. 2004).
12.6.2 Lignans
Lignan, a constituent of lignin, is formed by the coupling of two
p-hydroxyphenylpropane molecules by a bond between β-positions in the propane
side chains. Lignans constitute a group of important plant phenolics and exist in two
major groups, i.e., oil-soluble lignans and glycosylated water-soluble lignans.
Sesamin (167–804 mg/100 g seeds), sesamolin (48–279 mg/100 g seeds), sesaminol
(32–298 mg/100 g seeds), and sesamolinol (58 mg/100 g seeds) are the main
oil-soluble lignans present in sesame (Moazzami et al. 2006; Pathak et al. 2014).
However, higher amounts of sesamin (2.45 mg/g seed) and sesamolin (1.10 mg/g
seed) were observed for Indian sesame species when compared with 65 sesame seeds
harvested in Texas, USA (1.63 mg/g seed for sesamin and 1.01 mg/g seed for
sesamolin), and 403 sesame landraces of Korea (2.09 mg/g for sesamin and
1.65 mg/g for sesamolin) (Kim et al. 2006; Moazzami et al. 2006; Pathak et al.
2014). The major glycosylated lignans are sesaminol triglucoside, pinoresinol
12 Sesame (Sesamum indicum) Seed
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