Re: Re: OXALIC ACID/sesame seeds

[Guest guest]

> Why not just make or buy tahani made with unhulled sesame seeds and

> add a little freshly ground flax seed. Sounds easy to me.

>

> What do you do with the sprouted sesame seeds. Do you dry them or eat

> them fresh from the jar?

>

> According to Sally the oxalic acid is in the hull of the sesame seed.

> She recommends sprouting the hulled sesame seeds. It is great to know

> you have had success sprouting the hulled ones. Thanks. I'll try it

> too.

>

> Sheila

I eat the sesame sprouts fresh from my sprout " garden " , mixed with my

other sprouts and other items in a salad. I find it easier to eat them

this way than subject them to further processing like drying or grinding

into tahini. By the way, the taste of sesame sprouts is fairly unpleasant

if they're sprouted more than two days or so, although strong flavors can

become either unnoticeable or valuable in the right context of course.

There are three kinds of sesame seeds one can readily buy (Indian or Korean

shops seem best), black, brown, and white. I think the black would be called

unhulled and the brown would be called hulled, but I don't know how to

refer to the white ones beyond their color. In any case, the white ones

( " polished " ?) appear to be missing more than the hull, and are to be

avoided for sprouting; in my attempts they have completely failed to

sprout. On the other hand, the black and brown ones sprout very easily,

and require less soaking than most seeds. The question of unhulled versus

hulled is an interesting one I'll look into sometime. I don't have

enough info at this time to form a preference.

(by the way, I'm a bit of a purist, so the idea of buying tahini mortifies

me!!! there's not a single item in my diet that I don't prepare from

individual ingredients starting with the least processed form available,

except vinegar, which I'm embarassed to admit that I haven't started

making from scratch yet)

Mike

[Guest guest]

Why use unhulled sesame seed tahini when the hulls contain the oxalic acid?

Am I getting anything wrong?

Thanks for any correction.

[Guest guest]

In NT on page 148 it says to only use hulled sesame seeds because the hulls

contain oxalic acid (maybe it is concentrated there, Mike?). So why do some

of you prefer unhulled seeds?

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

On Wed, 26 Mar 2003 SbrHaub@... wrote:

> Why use unhulled sesame seed tahini when the hulls contain the oxalic acid?

> Am I getting anything wrong?

> Thanks for any correction.

The only fact I have to go on is that the hulls contain oxalic acid. In

contrast, if the hulls contain " the oxalic acid " , that would mean the rest

of the seed contains none, which is extremely improbable. So

eliminating the hulls would not necessarily solve the problem of oxalic

acid. The question then becomes how much oxalic acid is present in

different parts of the seed and how much of desirable nutrients are

present in different parts of the seed, and what the tradeoffs are.

I don't have any facts about this at present, though I'd very much like to know.

Mike

[Guest guest]

> In NT on page 148 it says to only use hulled sesame seeds because the hulls

> contain oxalic acid (maybe it is concentrated there, Mike?). So why do some

> of you prefer unhulled seeds?

> Thanks,

and Sheila,

I reread the same passage in NT before I wrote my earlier emails. I don't

have a preference; I'm just claiming ignorance about the tradeoffs. If I

didn't sprout them (which takes care of the phytates and enzyme

inhibitors) I'd certainly always choose hulled.

best,

Mike