Oil content and composition of the seed in the world collection of sesame introductions

The quantity and quality of oil was studied in 721 introductions of sesame seed. The mean oil content was 53.1% and the iodine value 117.4. The mean per cent fatty acid composition was: palmitic 9.5, stearic 4.4, oleic 39.6 and linoleic 46.0. The oil was clear, colorless in 47.4% of the samples and light green in 37.2%. The remainder of the oil samples were dark green or brown. Short plants tended to have colorless oil while tall plants had light green oil. Early plants had a higher seed oil content. Earliness, yellow seed color and large seed size were associated with lower iodine value. A significant negative correlation was found between oleic and linoleic acid content. There was no correlation between oil content and iodine value of the oil.