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1 February 2005 Slimy Leaves and Oily Seeds: Distribution and Use of Wild Relatives of Sesame in Africa
Dorothea Bedigian
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Abstract

This is a cultural, ecological, economic, geographical and historical study of the close wild relatives of sesame in Africa. Medical, culinary, cosmetic and industrial use of each species is assembled along with ethnographic and linguistic data. Collectively, it presents a summary of the genetic resources of Sesamum. The relative importance of each species varies by location, however most of these taxa are used in strikingly similar ways by subsistence farmers. Comparison of usage by ethnic group reveals the social role these valuable leaf vegetables play in daily life, particularly during times of shortage and famine. Fieldwork provides firsthand data, supplementing herbarium specimens and the published literature about the distribution, uses and environmental adaptations of wild Sesamum species and their close relative, Ceratotheca sesamoides Endl.

Dorothea Bedigian "Slimy Leaves and Oily Seeds: Distribution and Use of Wild Relatives of Sesame in Africa," Economic Botany 58(sp1), (1 February 2005). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2004)58[S3:SLAOSD]2.0.CO;2
Received: 4 April 2002; Accepted: 16 August 2004; Published: 1 February 2005
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KEYWORDS
Africa
agricultural innovation
Ceratotheca
ethnobotany
famine
gathering
leaf vegetable
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