Сальвия испаника: Құрамы мен өсірілуі

Species of flowering plant in the mint and sage family Lamiaceae

Salvia hispanica, one of several related species commonly known as chia ('/tʃ//iː//ə/), is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to central and southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is considered a pseudocereal, cultivated for its edible, hydrophilic chia seed, grown and commonly used as food in several countries of western South America, western Mexico, and the southwestern United States.

The word chia is derived from the Nahuatl word chian, meaning 'oily'. Other plants known as chia include Salvia columbariae, Chia is hardy from USDA Zones 9–12. Many plants cultivated as S. hispanica are in fact S. officinalis subsp. lavandulifolia (syn. S. lavandulifolia). Typically, the seeds are small ovals with a diameter around 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. While soaking, the seeds develop a mucilaginous coating that gives chia based beverages a distinctive gelatinous texture. Chia is grown and consumed commercially in its native Mexico and Guatemala, as well as Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, northwestern Argentina, parts of Australia, and the southwestern United States. New patented varieties of chia have been bred in Kentucky for cultivation in northern latitudes of the United States.

Chia is grown commercially for its seed, a food rich in omega 3 fatty acids since the seeds yield 25–30% extractable oil, including α linolenic acid. Typical composition of the fat of the oil is 55% ω 3, 18% ω 6, 6% ω 9, and 10% saturated fat.

The length of the growing cycle for chia varies based on location and is influenced by elevation. For production sites located in different ecosystems in Bolivia, Ecuador and northwestern Argentina, growing cycles are between 100 and 150 days in duration. Accordingly, commercial production fields are located in the range of altitude across a variety of ecosystems ranging from tropical coastal desert, to tropical rain forest, and inter Andean dry valley. S. hispanica is a short day flowering plant, indicating its photoperiodic sensitivity and lack of photoperiodic variability in traditional cultivars, which has limited commercial use of chia seeds to tropical and subtropical latitudes until 2012. Now, traditional domesticated lines of Salvia species grow naturally or can be cultivated in temperate zones at higher latitudes in the United States. The plant prefers well drained, moderately fertile soils, but can cope with acid soils and moderate drought. In modern commercial production, a typical sowing rate of and row spacing of are usually applied. Irrigation frequency in chia production fields may vary from none to eight irrigations per growing season, depending on climatic conditions and rainfall. Seed weight and color have high heritability, with a single recessive gene responsible for white color. Weeds may present a problem in the early development of the chia crop until its canopy closes, but because chia is sensitive to most commonly used herbicides, mechanical weed control is preferred.