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

Salvia hispanica is not very frost tolerant, but it can be grown as summer annuals in the temperate zone[].
Requires a light to medium well-drained fertile soil in a warm sunny position[].
This species is widely cultivated for its edible seed in Mexico.
Martinez reports that in Mexico 1 ,000 - 3,000 kilos of the seeds may be produced per hectare[].
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 early to mid spring in a greenhouse. Germination usually takes place within 2 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant out in late spring or early summer. The seed can also be sown in situ during mid spring, though this sowing might not mature its seed in a cool summer[].