Sesame seed nutrition: what hulling changes.
Nutrition pages often quote one set of figures for "sesame seeds". There are two, and they are not close. The seed coat that hulling removes carries almost all of the seed's calcium. For a consumer that is a footnote. For a food manufacturer printing a nutrition panel, it is the difference between a correct label and one that overstates calcium sixteenfold.
28 September 2026—6 min read—Sparsh Khullar, Trade & Markets
How much calcium is in sesame seeds?
Whole, unhulled sesame seed contains 975 mg of calcium per 100 g. Hulled sesame (the seed with its coat removed, which USDA calls decorticated kernels) contains 60 mg. Both figures are from USDA FoodData Central, the United States reference nutrient database.
Per tablespoon, using USDA's own portion weights (9 g for whole seed, 8 g for hulled kernels), that is about 88 mg from whole seed and about 5 mg from hulled. Which figure a page quotes depends on which seed it means, and many pages do not say.
What changes between natural and hulled sesame?
The table sets the two USDA entries side by side, per 100 g. Removing the coat takes most of the minerals held in it and leaves the oil-rich kernel, so what remains is higher in fat, protein and energy, and lower in carbohydrate.
| Energy | Whole 573 kcal · Hulled 631 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | Whole 17.7 g · Hulled 20.4 g |
| Total fat | Whole 49.7 g · Hulled 61.2 g |
| Carbohydrate | Whole 23.4 g · Hulled 11.7 g |
| Dietary fibre | Whole 11.8 g · Hulled 11.6 g |
| Calcium | Whole 975 mg · Hulled 60 mg (−94%) |
| Iron | Whole 14.6 mg · Hulled 6.4 mg (−56%) |
| Copper | Whole 4.08 mg · Hulled 1.40 mg (−66%) |
| Manganese | Whole 2.46 mg · Hulled 1.44 mg (−41%) |
| Magnesium | Whole 351 mg · Hulled 345 mg |
| Phosphorus | Whole 629 mg · Hulled 667 mg |
| Zinc | Whole 7.75 mg · Hulled 6.73 mg |
| Selenium | Whole 34.4 µg · Hulled 34.4 µg |
| Riboflavin (B2) | Whole 0.25 mg · Hulled 0.09 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | Whole 0.79 mg · Hulled 0.40 mg |
Why does hulled sesame have more fat and protein?
Because nothing was added. The coat is mineral-rich and comparatively low in oil, and taking it away concentrates what is left. The same arithmetic is why our hulled grade specifies 50% minimum oil content against 48 to 52% for natural: the kernel is not a richer seed, it is the same seed with a lighter fraction removed.
Magnesium and selenium barely move, and phosphorus and zinc change by less than 15%, which suggests those minerals sit mainly in the kernel rather than the coat. Calcium, iron and copper fall sharply, which suggests the opposite.
Does the difference matter for a nutrition label?
It matters more than anything else on this page. A manufacturer who buys hulled seed and calculates the panel from a whole-seed "sesame seeds" value will declare roughly sixteen times the calcium the product contains. The error runs the other way for a wholegrain tahini or a natural-seed topping built from hulled-kernel values.
The fix is procedural. Match the reference entry to the grade on the purchase contract, and where calcium or iron is claimed on the pack, confirm it by laboratory analysis of the ingredient as delivered rather than from any database, including this one.
What about tahini?
Tahini is ground sesame, so the same question applies, and USDA's own entries show why a generic figure is unsafe. FoodData Central's standard reference data (SR Legacy) carries four tahini entries, and they disagree with one another: calcium runs from 141 mg to 426 mg per 100 g, and iron from 2.51 mg to 8.95 mg.
Every one of them sits far below whole seed's 975 mg of calcium. The practical rule is the same as for the seed: label a tahini from an analysis of that tahini, not from a database line, and never from a whole-seed value.
| From roasted and toasted kernels, "most common type" (FDC 170189) | Calcium 426 mg · Iron 8.95 mg · Fat 53.8 g |
|---|---|
| From raw and stone ground kernels (FDC 169410) | Calcium 420 mg · Iron 2.51 mg · Fat 48.0 g |
| From unroasted kernels, non-chemically removed seed coat (FDC 169406) | Calcium 141 mg · Iron 6.35 mg · Fat 56.4 g |
| Type of kernels unspecified (FDC 168604) | Calcium 141 mg · Iron 4.42 mg · Fat 53.0 g |
Does more calcium on paper mean more calcium absorbed?
Not necessarily, and these tables do not answer it. FoodData Central reports how much of a nutrient the food contains, not how much the body takes up from it. Absorption is a separate question for a nutrition scientist, and we make no health claim for either grade.
Which grade should a nutrition-led product use?
Work from the claim backwards.
- 01The product's story is calcium, iron or "whole seed". Use natural sesame, and label from whole-seed values confirmed by analysis.
- 02The product is sold on appearance: a white bakery topping, a pale tahini, confectionery. Use hulled, accept the lower mineral content, and label from kernel values.
- 03The product is retail-facing and must be visibly clean without losing the coat. Use colour-sorted natural seed, our sortex premium grade, which keeps the whole-seed composition at 99.5% purity.
- 04The product is oil. Grade choice is about crushing yield rather than nutrition. See the crushing-grade guide.
How current is this page?
Every nutrient value is read from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy entries 170150 and 169412 for the seed and 170189, 169410, 169406 and 168604 for tahini, retrieved on 28 September 2026. SR Legacy was released in April 2018 and is the final release of that data type, so the figures will not change. They are reference averages for the seed type, not an analysis of our lots. Values in the table are rounded from USDA's; percentage changes are our own arithmetic on USDA's per-100 g values.
Put this into practice
Send us your specification (grade, quantity, destination, Incoterm) and you will have a formal quotation within 48 hours.
The grades this applies to
Written by
Sparsh Khullar
Director — Trade & Markets
Runs the AgroMax trade desk from India: contracts, documentation and buyer relationships across destination markets. More about the team
Primary sources
Every figure above is tied to the instrument it comes from. These are those instruments, so you can check us rather than take our word for it.
- USDA FoodData Central — Seeds, sesame seeds, whole, dried (FDC 170150)
SR Legacy, NDB 12023. The whole-seed column of the table above. The page is an app and may not load for non-browser clients.
- USDA FoodData Central — Seeds, sesame seed kernels, dried (decorticated) (FDC 169412)
SR Legacy, NDB 12201. The hulled column.
- USDA FoodData Central — Seeds, sesame butter, tahini, from roasted and toasted kernels (FDC 170189)
SR Legacy, NDB 12166. The other three tahini rows are FDC 169410, 169406 and 168604 in the same database.