Sesame oil extraction process and Nutritional values

Sesame oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the sesame seeds. Sesame oil is extracted by crushing the sesame seeds with force. Sesame oil ( "Nallennai" in tamil) is used for culinary purposes right from the ancient times as it is found to be the earliest known crop based oil . In India, traditionally bullocks were led around the ‘chekku’ filled with the sesame seeds, which turned the wooden crusher to extract oil.

Later due to modernization, the traditional chekku was replaced by rotary machine extractors. Nowadays,  the tradition heads back as the people realize the health values in it. 

Cold pressed oil extraction:

Pure cold pressed or wood pressed sesame oil is produced by crushing the sesame seeds with wooden churner to expel out the oil. By this method, the friction  between the mortar and the wooden churner is reduced which in turn the heat generation gets suppressed. As a result, the oil is extracted below 30 ̊C without losing its natural properties whereas in rotary machine chekku, the oil extracted gets heated up to 120 ̊F .

In South India, the wood variety preferred for the wooden churner is vaagai (Albizia lebbeck) as it absorbs the mild heat generated while crushing the seeds and maintains atmospheric temperature. The expelled oil remains at room temperature whereas the machine expelled oils are hot enough not even to touch. 

Nature of Sesame oil:

Natural sesame oil extracted from best quality seeds usually possess pleasant taste and flavor which doesn't require any refining or purification process before consumption. The main attribute of the best sesame oil is its flavor, which can be retained perfectly when crushing the seeds mildly using cold pressed method.

In addition to its common use as cooking oil, sesame oil is also used as a flavor enhancer in many cuisines due to its unique nutty aroma and taste.

Varieties of Sesame Oil:

Sesame oil has varieties like  toasted oil and non toasted oil. Toasted oil is the result of extraction of toasted sesame seeds while untoasted oil is from raw sesame seeds. Untoasted oil itself has varieties like cold pressed oil and expeller oil. The color and flavor of each of this variety differs in its own way.

Untoasted sesame oil is usually pale yellow to golden color whereas the toasted oil is dark brown in color with strong aroma.

The standardized physical nature for a pure sesame oil (virgin sesame oil) according to FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) is

The sesame oil which meets these standards would be certainly pure and devoid of admixtures.

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