History

From the Aztecs and Mayans to us.

 

CHIAN: langage mayan "chian" meaning "energizer, fortifier"

ANCIENT HISTORY

Mesoamerica is considered as one of the eight most important word centres of vegetable species. The chia comes from Mexico central valleys and the North of Guatemala where there is the greatest concentration of species of the Labiatae.  In these places the tame of this specie started reaching its maximum spreading throughout the American continent before the Spanish conquest.

These native people had very few species of pets. However, it is possible to enumerate a large list of  domesticated plants among the which are underlined by both production volume and nutritional contribution, the amaranth, chía, corn and beans. These four were equally important in their daily staple food.

Chia seeds started to be used in human nourishment 3.500 BC and became as one of the major crops in Central Mexico between 1500 and 900 BC. Scientific evidence shows this in one of the twelve volumes of the Florentino Code written during the American conquest between 1548 and 1580 by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, under the title  Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España.

It was cultivated with a sophisticated agricultural techology that it gave better yields and more frequent  crops, examples of these are known today as “zero plowing” using the “primitive hoe(coa)” to implant the crops; “terrace-like crops”, which let them make use of well humid sites but with a high limit as the deep downgrades of the  productive valleys were; the “chinampas”, large mats woven from tree barks and anchored on flooded lands or lakes to increase the developmental surface over marshy grounds but also in this way they insured themselves a freshwater supply to crops during its entire cycle.

One of the most  precious gifts that Aztecs could receive from those conquered populations, was chia seeds. Codex Mendoza, written during the conquest, presents a list with places names and the respective tribute they had to pay the Aztec empire. The unit of measure was the “troje” and the chia troje was equal to 204,8 tons. according to present studies.  Tenochtitlán, Aztec empire capital, received between four thousand and fifteen thousand tons of chia annually.

 For  over 4000 years the man and chia were connected through the agricultural cultivation and food. In the last 500 years, religious persecutions almost caused chia disappearance that lost the important position that ranked in Mesoamerican societies.

In 1965, chia seed started to trade in healthy food stores in South of California and Arizona. By mid-80´s, its demand was so scarce, that  farmers could not sell their production. But, by the end of the 80´s, the production line known as Chia Pet TM appeared in USA. This increased chia demand and few agriculturers that still cultivated it could place their production again.

During this period, chia was sold in Mexican markets as a raw material to make a drink called ” fresh chia” , consumed as religious or ethnical reasons and its oil was used in painting by a small group of artcraftmen. A total of 300 ha yearly planted in Jalisco state, Mexico, was enough to supply the market. Besides Mexico, some native villages from Guatemala and Nicaragua also produced chia seeds. Only some few lots were sown in these countries and with similar purposes as the ones in Mexico.

Recently at mid-90´s, scientific and epidemiologic information showed the negative effects that saturated fats, trans-isomers and the unbalance between Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids had on human health and the need to increase the consumption of O-3 fatty acids to prevent from heart disease, cancer, depression, etc.

About the same time, the first scientific publications appeared with the results of the trials with chia as part of the Northwestern Argentina Regional Project. The information of this specie as a natural source of Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, dietary fibre grew the general interest in crops.

The widespread of this information, together with the permanent  availability of seeds, caused the falling of prices at reasonable levels in new markets and chia gained a nutritional position.  Slowly, and as food,  began to spread outside Mexico, but only to USA and Argentina.

Today, it is possible to find chia in human and animal food. It is used in the form of food supplementary, energetic bars, or in enriched breads with O-3 fatty acids. It is also used the entire seed to produce an ethnical beverage, fresh chia,  consumed by Mexican and Nicaraguan native descendants, and tokme sharbati,  consumed by Iranian immigrants from USA.

Chia seeds are sold in supermarkets and ethnical food stores in USA, mainly is Southwest states, and since the end of 2001 nutritional supplements enriched with chia seeds and/or oils are available in Canada, Japan, E.U. and Rusia. Its is also possible to get energetic bars and several chia products thru internet.

As animal supplements, the chia is used for horses and is sold in specific stores in USA, and it is also used to produce O-3 fatty acids enriched eggs. Recently, in this country, it has been included as O-3 source in commercial formulas for cats.