Many of the plants cultivated under this name are in fact Salvia lavandulifolia[].

Common Name: Mexican Chia

General Information

Salvia hispanica is a rather stout, erect annual plan with a simple or sparsely branched stem; it usually grows up to 100cm tall[].
Mexican Chia is known to have been in cultivation by the Aztecs as a food crop before the Spanish invasion - the plant is still widely cultivated at the present day for its edible seed in Mexico and Guatemala[]. The plant also yields an oil and has a number of local medicinal applications.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Southern S. America - Ecuador, Colombia; C. America - Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, north to southern Mexico

Habitat

Moist or dry thickets or open, often rocky slopes or fields, sometimes on sandbars along streams, often a weed in cultivated or waste ground, sometimes in open oak forest at elevations from 1,150 - 2,500 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a light to medium well-drained fertile soil in a warm sunny position[].
Martinez reports that in Mexico 1 ,000 - 3,000 kilos of the seeds may be produced per hectare[].
The flowers are much visited by bees[].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[].

Edible Uses

The seeds are a popular and versatile source of food, being used to make drinks, as a source of oil, to make a flour for bread and biscuits, as well as the various ways in wih thet are eaten in salads, stews etc[].

When the 'seeds' or nutlets are soaked in water they swell somewhat in the same way as tapioca, developing a thick outer mucilaginous coat[]. When these soaked seeds are stirred or mashed in water, they form a beverage of an agreeable flavour and mucilaginous consistency that is a popular refreshing drink in Mexico and Guatemala, being drunk either at the table or at refreshment stands[]. It is sometimes offered on the table at hotels[]. The drink can be flavoured with fruit juices[, ]. The gelled seeds can also be prepared as a gruel or pudding[].

The sprouted seeds are eaten in salads, sandwiches, soups, stews etc[]. Due to their mucilaginous property they are often sprouted on clay or other porous materials before being eaten[].

The seed can be ground into a meal and made into bread, biscuits, cakes etc, usually in a mix with cereal flours[]. The seed is a good source of protein and easily digested fats[].

A nutritious oil is obtained from the seed[]. It can be used for cooking[]. Rich in linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids, the oil has been recommended as a health supplement[].

Medicinal

The following notes are for the related Salvia columbariae. They almost certainly also apply to this species[].

The seed is digestive, disinfectant, febrifuge and ophthalmic[, ]. An infusion can be used in the treatment of fevers[]. A poultice of the seed mush can be applied to infections[].
The seeds have been kept in the mouth, and chewed during long journeys on foot, in order to give strength[].
The seeds have been used to cleanse the eyes or remove foreign matter from the eyes[]. No more information is given here, but in other instances the seed has been placed in the eye, it then forms a gelatinous covering to which any foreign matter in the eye adheres. The seed is washed out of the eye by the eyes own tears[].

Other Uses

The seeds contain 28 - 36% of an oil which is yellowish and becomes lighter in colour upon exposure to light. It is a drying oil and is used commonly in Guatemala as a paint dryer[]. In Mexico it is used by some of the native peoples in painting jicaras the cups made from Crescentia fruits and probably it is utilized in the same manner in Guatemala[].

The powdered seed is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as an abrasive[].
The oil extracted from the seeds is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a moisturiser and skin conditioner[].
An essential oil obtained from leaves is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a perfume[].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ. Germination usually takes place within 2 weeks.

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