2,218 Sesame Spain Underutilised Authors: Diego Rubiales, C. Ruiz, Eleonora Comini, Pierluigi Reveglia [CSIC] Sesame, an ancient crop historically grown primarily in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia, has various culinary applications, providing high-quality oil and products like tahini (100% sesame seed paste) or seeds added to bread and other foods. Current yields are low, with a global average of 500 kg/ha, and most landraces and varieties are unsuitable for mechanical harvest, requiring significant manual labour. This likely contributed to the abandonment of sesame cultivation in Spain by the 1980s, and its cultivation remains negligible in Europe, despite the wide acceptance of sesame products by European consumers. Efforts are required to develop improved cultivars, focusing on traits that enable mechanical harvest while maintaining quality and resilience. IAS-CSIC maintains a comprehensive germplasm collection of sesame landraces and varieties from around the world, characterized by considerable diversity in phenology, branching, plant stature, pod shattering, and seed quality traits. This diversity provides opportunities for selective breeding, utilizing the extensive genetic variation for both the direct use of desired types and the development of new cultivars. 9787