Introduction and Early Use of Sesame in America

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................390 Methodology and Sources ..............................................................................................................390 Earliest Record of Sesame in Africa ..............................................................................................390 Quest for the Earliest Historical Report about Sesame Cultivation in Africa ................................390 Roman Era ..................................................................................................................................... 391 Sesame in Africa: Earliest Travelers’ Accounts ............................................................................. 391 From Africa to the Western Hemisphere-Transfer to Latin America and the Caribbean: Legacy of Colonialism ................................................................................................................... 392

African Crop Introductions to the Americas and Their Linguistic Residues ............................ 392 French Guiana ........................................................................................................................... 393 Jamaica ...................................................................................................................................... 393 Trinidad ..................................................................................................................................... 393

Context for Sesame Transmission: Leaf Mucilage Used in Medicine, Besides Edible Seed ........ 393 Sesame and Ceratotheca Linked, Used Interchangeably ............................................................... 396 Comparable African Leaf Use Suggests African Agency Establishing Sesame in the Colonies ..... 397 Etymological Evaluation of African Sesame Names as Loan Words ............................................ 398

Benne ......................................................................................................................................... 398 Reference to Benne in the Oxford Etymological Dictionary (OED) .................................... 399

Clusters of Alternative African Names Reflect Several Independent African Sources .................. 399 Vanglo ........................................................................................................................................ 399 Wangila ......................................................................................................................................400