Chia (Salvia hispanica) experiment at a 30˚ N site in Sichuan Basin, China

The Promising Future of Chia, Salvia hispanica L.

With increasing public health awareness worldwide, demand for functional food with multiple health benefits has also increased. The use of medicinal food from folk medicine to prevent diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular problems is now gaining momentum among the public. Seed from Salvia hispanica L. or more commonly known as chia is a traditional food in central and southern ...

Whole and crushed nutlets of chia (Salvia hispanica)

By the time of the Spanish conquest, Mesoamerican peoples had domesticated at least 20 botanical species with different uses. Among those, amaranth, beans, black chia, and corn stood out from a nutritional standpoint. The relevance of those crops in the Aztec’s diet is documented in the historical Florentine Codex. In particular, chia was as important as corn or even more in some regions. In th...

Exploring Triacylglycerol Biosynthetic Pathway in Developing Seeds of Chia (Salvia hispanica L.): A Transcriptomic Approach

Chia (Salvia hispanica L.), a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), is a rediscovered crop with great importance in health and nutrition and is also the highest known terrestrial plant source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acid, alpha linolenic acid (ALA). At present, there is no public genomic information or database available for this crop, hindering research on its genetic improvement throu...

Allergen characterization of chia seeds (Salvia hispanica), a new allergenic food.

Detection and Identification of the First Viruses in Chia (Salvia hispanica)

Chia (Salvia hispanica), an herbaceous plant native to Latin America, has become important in the last 20 years due to its beneficial effects on health. Here, we present the first record and identification of two viruses in chia plants. The comparison of the complete nucleotide sequences showed the presence of two viral species with the typical genome organization of bipartite New World begomov...