Sesame lignans are not a substance, but a unique class of lignans in sesame, which is a general term for various substances with similar structures. It mainly includes oil-soluble sesamin and sesamolin, etc., as well as some water-soluble sesamolol glycosides in the form of glycosides (see the table below for details).

In addition, during the process of making sesame oil, sesame will also produce a strong antioxidant substance-sesamol, which is formed by the transformation of sesamolin.There are oil-soluble lignans in sesame oil, the content is about 1%, although the content is very small, but the effect is great!
   The most important function of sesame lignans is the antioxidant effect mentioned earlier in the article. It not only makes sesame oil have better oxidation stability than other vegetable oils, but also has strong antioxidant activity in the body. For example, experiments have proved that sesame lignans can eliminate organic free radicals, peroxides and hydroxyl free radicals in the body. Human experiments also found that sesamin can significantly inhibit the rise of lipid peroxide in plasma.
   It is worth mentioning that sesame lignans can not only exert antioxidant effect directly, but also indirectly exert antioxidant effect by increasing the activity of vitamin E. At first, it was discovered by Yamashita et al. that sesame lignans could increase the biological activity of γ-tocopherol to a level close to that of α-tocopherol in mice, and later found that sesame lignans could interact with α-tocopherol in mice. - Tocopherols act synergistically, thereby increasing the activity of vitamin E. Human experiments have also found that eating 22.5g of sesame oil per day can significantly increase the level of γ-tocopherol in serum.
   Of course, in addition to the excellent performance of sesame lignans in anti-oxidation, many scholars at home and abroad have found that the physiological activity of sesame lignans is also reflected in protecting the liver, lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, regulating fatty acid metabolism, etc. Many other aspects.
Studies in the last two years have also found that sesamin helps to inhibit and reduce stress-induced behavioral and psychological disorders; sesamol can improve aging-related cognitive impairment and so on.
   As the research on the antioxidant capacity of sesame lignans becomes more and more mature, the scientific truth gradually surfaced. Although objectively speaking, there is still a lack of large-scale population studies of lignans, other biological effects based on antioxidant capacity are constantly being discovered.