Sesame
Sesame (Sesamum indicum)
Section titled “Sesame (Sesamum indicum)”⚠️ Status: metadata draft. A comprehensive candidate search is complete, but the screening queue is wholly pending. Candidate titles and DOIs show literature coverage; they do not establish accepted agronomic claims or numerical recommendations.
- Common names: sesame; ajonjolí is the preferred name in much Mexico-specific prose.
- Scientific name: Sesamum indicum
- Family: Pedaliaceae
- Crop type: annual oilseed
- Products kept separate: clean seed → optionally extracted and filtered seed oil; residual press cake is a separate by-product.
Why sesame belongs in this project
Section titled “Why sesame belongs in this project”Sesame introduces oilseed production and a crop where capsule behavior is central to harvest research. In a dehiscent capsule, opening can release seed before or during harvest; the resulting loss is often called shattering. Capsule type, maturity, harvest timing, handling, and measured seed loss therefore have to be documented together.
The dossier also separates four endpoints that are easy to blur:
- physiological seed maturity;
- practical harvest maturity;
- a drying endpoint suitable for the intended storage use;
- oil recovered from already cleaned seed.
Evidence status
Section titled “Evidence status”The ResearchForge survey used 28 query variants across OpenAlex, Crossref, arXiv, and Semantic Scholar. Its canonical export contains 2,030 records and 1,585 deduplicated records; 1,998 screening records remain pending with zero decisions.
- Better-covered candidate areas: genetic diversity, germination, drought and water stress, fertility, dehiscence/shattering, seed storage, and oil processing.
- Thin areas: capsule development/maturity, household cutting and bundling, hand threshing, winnowing/cleaning loss, labor-hours, small-press handling, and Mexico-specific economics.
- Mexico: one direct genotype × environment agronomy candidate was found; regional harvest, processing, budget, and food-safety evidence remains sparse.
Under the evidence method, unsupported values remain Unknown or Needs experiment. The structured twin is data/crops/sesame.yaml.
Dossier map
Section titled “Dossier map”Plant and site
Section titled “Plant and site”- Biology, flowering, and capsule development
- Climate and temperature
- Soil, drainage, and salinity
- Planting and establishment
- Irrigation and drought
- Fertilization
- Pests, diseases, and weeds
Product chain
Section titled “Product chain”- Harvest maturity, dehiscence, and seed loss
- Threshing, winnowing, cleaning, and oil extraction
- Drying and storage
- Seed and oil yield
- Economics and household labor
Research control
Section titled “Research control”Decision rules for a future grower guide
Section titled “Decision rules for a future grower guide”- Identify the cultivar and capsule type before choosing a harvest system.
- Never convert “drought tolerant” into “does not need irrigation.”
- Do not transfer field-trial spacing, fertilizer, pesticide, or yield values without matching cultivar, environment, system, and product definition.
- Measure seed loss by stage instead of treating standing yield as recovered clean-seed yield.
- Keep food seed, planting seed, extracted oil, and residual cake as distinct products.
- Treat household labor and equipment throughput as Needs experiment until measured.
Food-use boundary
Section titled “Food-use boundary”Sesame is a regulated or priority allergen in some jurisdictions, and edible seed/oil may also have microbial, mold/mycotoxin, residue, and sanitation concerns. This dossier does not replace authoritative, jurisdiction-specific food-safety guidance and makes no medical or therapeutic claim.
Human gates still open
Section titled “Human gates still open”No agent has approved screening, full-text acquisition, extraction, an analysis method, final claims, or package export. Those decisions remain with a human reviewer.