Sesame seeds are eaten and smelled in Africa and healed

Recently, some African countries have paid special attention to China's Spring Festival, because the consumption demand of China's Spring Festival has stimulated the price of the international sesame market to rise, and 90% of China's imported sesame comes from Africa. In African countries, sesame seeds are not only used for export, but they are also used locally for a wide range of purposes.

The picture shows a Nigerian farmer planting sesame seeds

Some scholars say that the cultivation and application of sesame seeds in Africa predates recorded human civilization. In the Pyramids of Egypt, traces of sesame seeds have been found. In some archaeological sites, it has been found that the lamp oil used by the ancients for lighting was sesame oil. Sesame oil has been documented to be used in ancient Egypt to treat arthritis, sprains, and neuralgia. Even the ancient Egyptians used sesame oil to soften it first when removing earwax. In many African countries, black sesame seeds are mainly used in medicine. In Nigeria, there is an earthenware that is made from sesame leaves boiled in water to make a paste for the treatment of skin diseases. In the East African country of Tanzania, malaria is treated with cooked sesame oil. In Mozambique, the sap of sesame stalks is thought to have an aphrodisiac effect; while sesame seeds are taken as emetics. In places like Morocco in North Africa, sesame seeds are used as an adjunct to insomnia; pregnant women also often eat sesame seeds, which is said to help with milk production.

To this day, sesame oil remains one of the most important sources of dietary fat in African countries. As in other countries and regions, a large number of sesame seeds in Africa are used to press oil, and the main oil used here is brown sesame seeds. Sesame seeds have a drought-tolerant nature, so they are particularly suitable for cultivation in Africa. In Central Africa, East africa, and West Africa, farmers grow sesame seeds basically by natural farming, and the processing process of sesame seeds is also processed by hand. For some less developed countries in the region, sesame is a vital cash crop.

In Africa, white sesame seeds are mainly used for consumption. People have been eating sesame seeds for thousands of years, such as the famous tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, where a mural shows people putting sesame seeds on the surface while making bread. Today, sesame is widely used in a variety of foods, such as a variety of candies, cereals, and many baked goods. One of the most popular baby foods in Africa is sesame paste, which is made with sesame flour plus rice flour and water, which is called "Benny Paste" locally.

Traditionally, sesame seeds have also been used in the preparation of perfumes due to their aromatic properties. Legend has it that the earliest perfumes in human history were written by ancient Egyptians, and because there was no modern extraction technology at that time, the so-called perfumes were more similar to sesame oils. Legend has it that in ancient Egypt, essential oils and perfumes containing sesame seeds became almost a necessity of life, and it was illegal not to even apply perfume in public places. Perfume is also used in some sacrificial occasions and even in the antiseptic treatment of mummies. Ancient Egyptian women took perfume and essential oils as the secret recipe for beauty and beauty, and the beauty method of using aromatic essential oils for skin care, bathing, incense and massage was handed down and became a common beauty and skin care method in modern life. The sesame ingredients in perfumes help nourish the skin and anti-aging, and sesame is still used in some perfumes and skin care oils today.

The unique aroma of sesame seeds is also used in some African countries to make a special condiment- ogiri. The so-called Augeri is to boil sesame seeds and water and salt for a long time on a low heat, cook well, put the made paste in a bag of jute fabric, put it in a large clay pot to ferment for at least 5 days, and then grind the fermented sesame paste into a finer sesame powder, then tightly wrapped with banana leaves, and then smoked for several hours to make it. Augiri has a pungent smell and adding it to soups and some dishes becomes a local specialty. However, there are two points to pay special attention to, one is that the smell of Augiri is strong, it must be added less; and the other is that unlike the sesame oil when the Chinese food comes out of the pot, the augeri must be added to the soup or dish earlier, and it must be cooked for at least 15 minutes to neutralize the smell of augeri. It is also important to remember that when storing Augiri condiments, it must be sealed, otherwise the whole kitchen will be full of stench.