Chia seeds are the edible seeds of Salvia hispanica, a flowering plant in the sage family native to central and southern Mexico, or of the related Salvia columbariae of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Chia seeds are oval and gray with black and white spots, having a diameter around. The seeds are hydrophilic, absorbing up to 12 times their weight in liquid when soaked and developing a mucilaginous coating that gives chia-based foods and beverages a distinctive gel texture. There is evidence that the crop was widely cultivated by the Aztecs in pre-Columbian times and was a staple food for Mesoamerican cultures. Chia seeds are cultivated on a small scale in their ancestral homeland of central Mexico and Guatemala and commercially throughout Central and South America.
Description
Typically, chia seeds are small flattened ovals measuring on average, with an average weight of per seed. They are mottle-colored with brown, gray, black, and white. The seeds are hydrophilic, absorbing up to 12 times their weight in liquid when soaked; they develop a mucilaginous coating that giving a gel texture. Chia has mostly been identified as Salvia hispanica L. Other plants referred to as "chia" include "golden chia". The seeds of Salvia columbariae are used for food. In the 21st century, chia is grown and consumed commercially in its native Mexico and Guatemala, as well as Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Australia. New patented varieties of chia have been developed in Kentucky for cultivation in northern latitudes of the United States. Seed yield varies depending on cultivars, mode of cultivation, and growing conditions by geographic region. For example, commercial fields in Argentina and Colombia vary in yield range from. A small-scale study with three cultivars grown in the inter-Andean valleys of Ecuador produced yields up to, indicating that favorable growing environment and cultivar interacted to produce such high yields.Salvia hispanica#cite note-ayerza coates2009-20| Genotype has a larger effect on yield than on protein content, oil content, fatty acid composition, or phenolic compounds, whereas high temperature reduces oil content and degree of unsaturation, and raises protein content.
History
The 16th-century Codex Mendoza provides evidence that it was cultivated by the Aztec in pre-Columbian times, and economic historians say it may have been as important as maize as a food crop. It was given as an annual tribute by the people to the rulers in 21 of the 38 Aztec provincial states. Chia seeds served as a staple food for the Nahuatl cultures. Jesuit chroniclers placed chia as the third-most important crop in the Aztec culture, behind only corn and beans, and ahead of amaranth. Offerings to the Aztec priesthood were often paid in chia seed. Ground or whole chia seeds are used in Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Paraguay for nutritious drinks and food. Today, chia is cultivated on a small scale in its ancestral homeland of central Mexico and Guatemala, and commercially in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico.
Chia seeds are under preliminary research for their potential effects on health, but this work remains sparse and inconclusive. In a 2015 systematic review, most studies were of poor quality and did not demonstrate significant effects of chia seed consumption on cardiovascular risk factors. No evidence to date indicates consuming chia seeds has adverse effects onor interacts withprescription drugs.
Uses
Food
Chia seeds may be sprinkled or ground up on top of other foods. Chia seeds can also be mixed into smoothies, breakfast cereals, energy bars, granola bars, yogurt, tortillas, and bread. They can be soaked in water and consumed directly or mixed with any kind of juice to make chia fresca or with milk. Chia seed pudding, similar to tapioca pudding, is made with a type of milk, sweetener, and whole chia seeds. Chia seeds may also be ground and made into a gelatin-like substance or eaten raw. The gel from ground seeds may be used to replace as much as 25% of the egg and oil content in cakes. In 2009, the European Union approved chia seeds as a novel food, allowing chia to be up to 5% of the total matter in bread products.Salvia hispanica#cite note-11| Unlike flax seeds, and despite popular misconception, chia seeds are digestible whole and do not need to be ground. The human body absorbs the same nutrients from chia seeds regardless of whether the seeds are dry or soaked and regardless of whether they are whole or ground.
Chia pet
Joe Pedott created the Chia Pet in 1977 and marketed it widely after 1982. During the 1980s in the United States, the first substantial wave of chia seed sales was tied to chia pets, clay figures that serve as the base for a sticky paste of chia seeds. After the figures are watered, the seeds sprout into a form suggesting a fur covering. About 500,000 chia pets were sold in the U.S. in 2007 as novelties or house plants.
