What is sesamin, and how much is in sesame seeds and oil?

Sesamin is a lignan, a type of plant compound, found in sesame seeds and in the oil pressed from them. It almost always appears together with a second sesame lignan, sesamolin. A 2021 review lists 77 to 930 mg of sesamin and 61 to 530 mg of sesamolin per 100 g of sesame seeds, and an Australian study found 353.5 mg of sesamin per 100 g in a white variety and 120.5 mg in a black variety. Processing changes the lignans: roasting turns sesamolin into sesamol, and the bleaching step of oil refining turns sesamolin into sesaminol and changes the shape of some sesamin. There is no Thai Reference Daily Intake (Thai RDI) for sesamin.

In short:

• What it is: a lignan (furofuran type) from sesame, formula C20H18O6
• Its partner: sesamolin, the other main sesame lignan, found with it in the same seeds
• In seeds: 77 to 930 mg of sesamin per 100 g in a review; studies differ on whether white or black seeds have more
• In oil: 182.2 to 456.7 mg per 100 g in an Australian study (oil pressed at 40 °C), and 1,365 µg per g in cold-pressed oil from untreated Mae Hong Son black sesame in a Thai study
• Processing: roasting turns sesamolin into sesamol; bleaching forms sesaminol and episesamin
• Thai RDI: none

This article explains what sesamin is, where it is found and how processing changes it. It does not discuss what it does in the body. For the types of fat in sesame oil compared with other cooking oils, see How do cooking oils differ, and what fats do they contain?

What is sesamin?

Sesamin belongs to the lignans, a family of plant compounds. Sesamin and sesamolin are the main lignans of sesame.

Sesame's main lignans

A 2021 review from the University of Göttingen in Germany describes the two major sesame lignans, sesamin and sesamolin, as benzodioxol-substituted furofurans: a core of two joined five-membered rings containing oxygen (the furofuran), with a benzodioxole group attached. The review explains that sesamol, sesaminol and its epimers, and episesamin are transformation products found in processed sesame products. It also notes that synthetic routes to all of these lignans are known, but only sesamol is made industrially, and that the plant builds furofuran lignans starting from the joining of two molecules of coniferyl alcohol.

Sesamin and episesamin have the same formula and differ only in the spatial arrangement at one position. Sesamolin and sesaminol also share a formula (C20H18O7).

Sesamin and sesamolin come together

The Göttingen review reports that studies of many sesame varieties found a strong positive correlation between sesamin and sesamolin: seeds with more of one tend to have more of the other. It also notes that some studies found sesamin and sesamolin in other edible oils, such as rapeseed, sunflower, peanut and pumpkin seed oil, at the same ratio as in sesame, and the authors suggest this may reflect mixing with sesame oil rather than lignans made by those plants.

How much sesamin is in sesame seeds?

Amounts vary several-fold between varieties, seasons and growing conditions, so a single number for "sesamin in sesame" is only a rough guide.

Figures from reviews and studies

The Göttingen review adds that the total of the two lignans in sesame seeds may exceed 1.4% of the seed. The Indian study also measured sesamol in the seeds, at 0.16 to 3.24 mg per gram.

Does seed colour matter?

Studies do not agree.

Each study compared a limited set of varieties grown in one region. Colour alone is therefore not a reliable guide to how much sesamin a particular batch of seeds contains.

Lignans bound to sugars stay in the seed meal

Not all sesame lignans are free. The Göttingen review explains that sesame seeds also contain lignans bound to sugars (glucosides), mainly glucosides of sesaminol and pinoresinol, with sesaminol triglucoside at 14 to 91 mg per 100 g of seed. Most of these sugar-bound lignans stay in the oil-free meal after pressing, while the oil contains the free lignans, such as sesamin and sesamolin, and some lignans bound to one sugar.

How much sesamin is in sesame oil?

When seeds are pressed, the free lignans, such as sesamin and sesamolin, go into the oil.

Figures for pressed oils

A Thai sesame oil study

The Chiang Mai University study pressed oil at 40 to 50 °C from a Thai black sesame landrace from Mae Hong Son, harvested in September 2023. Oil from untreated seeds had 1,365 µg of sesamin per gram. Soaking the seeds in a solution of hydrochloric and citric acid and heating them in a microwave before pressing raised sesamin to as much as 6,927 µg per gram. Asarinin, a lignan with the same formula as sesamin, was not detected in oil from untreated seeds, and was found at up to 383.52 µg per gram only in some oils from acid-treated seeds. The study tested one landrace in the laboratory, so the figures show what pre-treatment can change rather than the content of oils sold in Thailand.

Pressing temperature

In the Australian study, oil was screw-pressed at temperatures from 40 to 200 °C. Sesamin, sesamolin, sesamol and the fatty acid composition did not change considerably with pressing temperature, while the oil yield from unroasted seeds rose up to 150 °C and dropped slightly at 200 °C.

What happens to sesame lignans when sesame is roasted?

Sesame seeds are often roasted before they are eaten or pressed. Heat changes sesamolin far more than sesamin.

The direction is consistent across studies: the hotter and longer the roasting, the less sesamolin remains and the more sesamol forms. How much changes depends on the temperature and time, and household roasting is usually not measured.

What happens to sesame lignans when sesame oil is refined?

Oils can be sold unrefined (pressed and filtered) or refined. Refining can include a bleaching step, which removes colour from the oil.

Bleaching forms sesaminol and episesamin

The Göttingen review explains that during bleaching of sesame oil, sesamolin is transformed into sesaminol and its epimers, and that bleaching also leads to the epimerization of sesamin, which forms episesamin. Refined sesame oil can therefore contain transformation products of the original lignans. The studies used in this article do not give comparable figures for the total lignan content of refined and unrefined oils, so the size of the change cannot be stated here.

Source: Andargie et al. 2021; Comini et al. 2023; Thani et al. 2026.

What else do sesame seeds and sesame oil contain?

Sesamin and sesamolin are minor components. Most of a sesame seed is fat, protein and fibre, and sesame oil is almost entirely fat. The US Department of Agriculture's FoodData Central (SR Legacy) does not list lignans, but it lists the main nutrients.

The Indian study found oleic acid at 34.71% to 45.61% and linoleic acid at 38.49% to 49.60% of the fatty acids in sesame seeds, which matches the roughly equal split between monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat in the table. For how sesame oil compares with omega-3 oils, see What is the difference between omega-3 and omega-6?

Is there a recommended daily amount of sesamin?

No. Sesamin is not a nutrient with a Thai Reference Daily Intake (Thai RDI), so there is no recommended daily amount in Thailand. The figures above describe how much sesamin foods contain, not how much anyone needs. Sesame seeds and sesame oil are high in fat, and the Thai RDI for total fat from all foods is 65 g a day. For the other Thai reference amounts, see What are the Thai daily reference amounts for each nutrient?

Why figures differ so much

The figures in this article come from different varieties, countries, seasons and methods. The Australian study tested one white and one black variety, the Indian study germplasm grown in India, and the Thai study one black landrace from Mae Hong Son. Results are best read as ranges, not as the content of every sesame product.

Who should talk to a doctor or pharmacist?

People with a sesame allergy

The US FDA lists sesame as one of the nine major food allergens in the United States; the FASTER Act declared it the ninth, with effect from 1 January 2023. People with a sesame allergy should talk to a doctor before eating any food or product made from sesame.

Pregnancy and regular medication

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take medication regularly, talk to a doctor or pharmacist before taking dietary supplements.

Dietary supplements are not intended to prevent, treat or cure any disease.