Sesame is a traditional preponderant oil-bearing crop. China is one of the world’s main producers of sesame，and also the world’s first consumer and importer. Breeding for stable and high-yield varieties will benefit for the development of sesame industry. The sesame yield is contributed by three main components including the number of capsules，the number of seeds per capsule and the weight of seeds. The capsule characters thus become important for the yield production，and unlocking the genetic mechanism will provide a theoretical foundation in the genetic improvement of sesame varieties with high yield and being suitable for mechanized. In this paper，the research progress on the characters of sesame capsule is reviewed. Morphological characters of capsule are reviewed as quantity and quality characters，studies of capsule growth and development are reviewed from capsule size and material accumulation. In addition，research on the ripening and dehiscence，tissue structure，identification of capsule dehiscence resistance and the breeding of varieties with capsule dehiscence resistance，and the capsule characters genetics，related molecular markers and genes are also discussed.Furthermore，the key tasks and future research focuses on sesame capsule characters have been prospected. We suggest to constantly support the studies of sesame capsule related characters，especially for capsule size， number of capsules per plant，number of seeds per capsule，and capsule dehiscence resistance. Improvement of the single plant yield of sesame might become a potential in breeding of new varieties with high yield. It is also suggested to focus on precise identification，exploration and innovative utilization of sesame gene resources with high resistance to capsule dehiscence，to focus on breeding new varieties with capsule dehiscence resistance，and then cracking the scientific problem of sesame genetic improvement of capsule dehiscence resistance，finally， the mechanization process of sesame production will be promoted. Simultaneously，we will deepen researches on discovery and application of functional markers and genes，and analyzing the molecular mechanism of capsule dehiscence resistance，furthermore apply to sesame molecular breeding.