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1 November 2003 Ethnobotany of Chia, Salvia hispanica L. (Lamiaceae)
Joseph P. Cahill
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Abstract

Salvia hispanica L., was an important staple Mesoamerican food and medicinal plant in pre-Columbian times. Unlike other Mesoamerican pseudocereal crops such as Amaranthus and Chenopodium, it has received comparatively little research attention. An ethnobotanical review of this Mesoamerican crop plant Salvia hispanica has been undertaken to examine changes in use accompanying Spanish colonization. A comparative analysis of accounts of use from the 16th century codices of Mexico and subsequent publications has revealed subtle changes in medicinal, culinary, artistic, and religious uses. Several hypotheses surrounding changes in use through time and the original use(s) that led to domestication are developed and tested through collection of ethnobotanical data in the highlands of western Mexico and Guatemala. A general decline in ethnobotanical knowledge associated with wild populations coupled with a loss of habitat in some locations has degraded important germplasm and knowledge resources for a species with great economic potential.

Joseph P. Cahill "Ethnobotany of Chia, Salvia hispanica L. (Lamiaceae)," Economic Botany 57(4), 604-618, (1 November 2003). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2003)057[0604:EOCSHL]2.0.CO;2
Received: 25 September 2000; Accepted: 1 April 2003; Published: 1 November 2003
JOURNAL ARTICLE
15 PAGES

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KEYWORDS
Chia
food
medicine
Mexico
oil
pre-Hispanic cultures
Salvia hispanica
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