Tahini : the magical condiment. An in-depth look at its nutritional and health benefits

Abstract

Tahini is an oily paste made from mechanically hulled and ground sesame seeds. Tahini is considered a condiment in many regions of the world primarily in the Middle Eastern countries from the Levant region including Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan. Sesame seeds contain about 25%-35% of protein as well as at least 55% of oil predominantly unsaturated fat from Oleic acid (35.9%-47%), Linoleic acid (35.6%-47.6%), Palmitic acid (8.7%-13.8%), Stearic acid (2.1%-6.4%), as well as Arachidic acid (0.1%-0.7%). Tahini is widely known as one of the natural health promoting foods that has the potential to prevent various health problems such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, cancer and aging. Additionally, it may be useful in managing oxidative stress-associated diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, obesity, chronic renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, sesame oil has multiple physiological functions such as decreasing blood lipids, increasing antioxidative ability and γ-tocopherol bioavailability, and providing anti-inflammatory function and potential estrogenic activity. Many health promoting effects are attributed to its lignans. Lignans consists of sesamin and sesamolin. In sesame oils, the ranges of sesamin and sesamolin were 0.93 mg/g- 2.89 mg/g oil and 0.30 mg/g-0.74 mg/g oil, respectively, and tocopherol contents were 304 μg/g-647 μg/g oil. Lignans may increase antioxidant potential of diets and it is providing stability. Hence, this article will highlight and discusses the potential nutritional and health promoting effects of Tahini.