Sintim Henry Ofosuhene
Institute of Applied Science and Technology, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2024 Oct 9;10(20):e39108. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39108. eCollection 2024 Oct 30.
The sesame seed contains oil, protein, dietary fibre, and several minerals and it is also a store of lignans. Lignans are key selection factors for sesame quality due to their health, nutritive and market value. In Ghana sesame growers rely on wild or undocumented planting seeds which are of mixed colouration and its lignan content is ambiguous. The objective of this study was to segregate street sesame seeds into component colour fractions and subsequently evaluate the consistency of lignans in the seed fractions. Sesame seeds were collected from street vendors in northern Ghana and were segregated into seed fractions based on the pericarp colour. The viability of seed fractions stored at different temperatures (ambient, 5 °C, 0 °C) over time and lignan contents of single or bulk mixed seeds were verified. The collected seeds were of mixed colouration with approximately 4 % debris, 40 % white, 36 % cream, and 20 % dark coloured seeds by weight. The viability of the seeds was 67-85 % depending on pericarp colour. White seed fractions which had the highest proportion by weight had a significantly (p = 0.0275) higher viability (85 %) than the dark seeds which had the least viability (67 %). The seeds lost viability over time. However, seeds stored at 0 °C maintained a viability of 77 % at the fourth year. There were differences in the relative abundance of lignans for both bulk seeds and, single seeds with different pericarp colours. The most abundant occurring lignans in the seeds were sesamin, sesamolin and sesaminol and its downstream glucosides. The source of seed or pericarp colour was not predictive of seed viability or lignan composition. These findings provide baseline data on seed quality including an improved storability under cold environments. It also gives an insight into how mixed seeds of variable pericarp colours can have distinct characteristics. Although the mixed coloured seeds had no implications for varied quality including lignan content, the international market for sesame requires that seeds are of consistent colour.
芝麻含有油脂、蛋白质、膳食纤维以及多种矿物质，同时也是木脂素的储存库。由于木脂素具有健康、营养和市场价值，它们是芝麻品质的关键选择因素。在加纳，芝麻种植者依赖野生或未经记录的种植种子，这些种子颜色混杂，其木脂素含量也不明确。本研究的目的是将街头芝麻种子分离成不同颜色的组分，随后评估种子组分中木脂素的一致性。从加纳北部的街头小贩处收集芝麻种子，并根据果皮颜色将其分离成种子组分。验证了在不同温度（环境温度、5℃、0℃）下储存一段时间后种子组分的活力以及单粒或混合种子的木脂素含量。收集到的种子颜色混杂，按重量计约有4%的杂质、40%的白色种子、36%的米色种子和20%的深色种子。种子的活力取决于果皮颜色，为67%-85%。按重量比例最高的白色种子组分的活力显著（p = 0.0275）高于活力最低的深色种子（67%）。种子的活力会随时间下降。然而，储存在0℃的种子在第四年仍保持77%的活力。对于混合种子和不同果皮颜色的单粒种子，木脂素的相对丰度存在差异。种子中最丰富的木脂素是芝麻素、芝麻林素和芝麻酚及其下游糖苷。种子或果皮颜色的来源并不能预测种子活力或木脂素组成。这些发现提供了关于种子质量的基线数据，包括在寒冷环境下改善的储存性能。它还深入了解了不同果皮颜色的混合种子如何具有不同的特性。尽管混合颜色的种子对包括木脂素含量在内的各种品质没有影响，但芝麻的国际市场要求种子颜色一致。
