ABSTRACT
This chapter presents physicochemical properties, important major and minor components, and beneficial health functions of sesame seeds, sesame oils, perilla seeds, and perilla seed oil that are indispensable cooking ingredients in various Korean cuisines. In terms of cooking, sesame seeds can be classified into white-, black-, and yellow-colored seeds. Also, sesame oils from roasted sesame seeds, roasted whole sesame seeds, and a mixture of sesame seeds and salts have been used for preparation of traditional Korean cuisines including rice cake and snacks. The usage of sesame seeds and sesame oils in Korea was first reported in the literature at the year of 683, which was the Shilla dynasty. A record on the sesame oil used for the lotus lantern for Buddha was written in The Heritage of the Three States, which was published in 1281. Perilla seeds contain approximately 40% oil and are mainly used for obtaining oil. In South Korea, 42,600 ha were in production in 2015.
