Korean and Chinese sesames were subjected to microscopic observation and instrumental determination of fatty acid composition and sesamolin/sesamin ratio to obtain basic data for discriminating each other. The overall appearance of both samples was differently observed by stereo microscope (X8). Fatty acid composition of sesame oils, extracted from both samples with different roasting degrees, showed a similar pattern although Chinese samples cointained about 6% higher content of stearic acid and 47% lower content of linolenic acid then Korean ones. The sesamolin/sesamin ratio was remarkably lower(.039) in Chinese samples than Korean (0.67∼0.72). showing a variation depending on producing districts. Roasting degrees of raw sesames little influenced their composition of fatty acid and sesamolin/sesamin ratio. Based on the above results, it is considered that the comparison between domestic and Chinese sesames in view of their stearic and linolenic acid contents and sesamolin/sesamin ratio might be one of the potential criteria in discriminating their production origins.