Israeli company Equinom has launches its unique patented sesame variety to open new markets for the cultivation of sesame, an ingredient for many bakery products.
Equinom has developed, high-yield, high profile, sesame seeds, that provide advanced organoleptic characteristics plus a shatter-resistance trait that makes them suitable for mechanized harvesting, the company says.
Sesame is a versatile, low-maintenance and economical crop to cultivate. It thrives in arid to tropical climates and can tolerate extreme heat up to 50°C. When sesame pods ripen, they shatter, dispersing the seeds. This restricts them solely to manual harvesting, where much of the sesame is lost and is more vulnerable to contamination and infiltration of dirt and sand.
Equinom’s technological achievement will provide local farmers with a new platform for growing sesame of a higher nutritional profile and sets the ground for the advancement of a more responsible supply chain, greater price stability and cost-effective growth. This technology also brings new hope to farmers located in desert regions where extreme weather conditions threaten crop performance. For consumers, this means food manufacturers can incorporate highly nutritious, clean and safe sesame into their products.
“The global sesame grain market is worth USD9bn annually — a promising figure, however still far from meeting its full potential. Part of the Equinom strategy is to boost yield performance as well as the nutrient profile, while scaling-up global commercial growth and trading of this highly nutritious seed. By deploying our innovative breeding technology, we can transform the dynamics of a stagnant market, ensuring product safety and traceability throughout the supplying chain,” says Itay Dana, marketing director for Equinom.
Equinom has been able to breed sesame with a superior nutritional profile tailor-made for a variety of innovative and commercial products, including baking, confectionary, tahini, oil and flour.
“We are determined to make sesame a more profitable crop for farmers and to develop sustainable sesame cultivation in the West. These sesame varieties are a game-changer for food companies that want full control of their supply chain to ensure food traceability and safety. Growing high-quality sesame locally also ensures consumers gets clean, nutritious products from farm-to-fork,” says Oron Gar Ph.D., VP and product manager for Equinom.