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The therapeutic potential of chia seeds as medicinal food: a review

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Abstract

Poor lifestyle choices have led to people suffering from stress, high blood pressure, and a surge in cholesterol levels. Due to this, people are opting for the use of various functional foods that have more than one health benefit to combat such disorders. As a result, chia seeds (Salvia hispanica) have become immensely popular and are slowly being included in modern diet regimens to combat various health problems. Chia seed is known to be an abundant source of antioxidants. It is also considered to be a potential source of caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid myricetin, kaempferol, and quercetin. These are believed to have anti-carcinogenic, cardiac, anti-aging, and hepatic protective effect characteristics. At the moment, chia seeds are mostly being consumed to maintain a healthy serum lipid balance in the body. This is achieved due to the omega-3 and phenolic acid present in chia. However, there can be endless therapeutic possibilities when it comes to using chia as an alternative to traditional medicines to treat diseases like diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and many digestive system disorders. Through this paper, we will review the therapeutic potential of chia seeds and their pharmaceutical design.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to the successful completion and publication of this review paper. We also extend our thanks to all the authors whose works have been cited in this paper, without whom this paper would not have been possible. Their valuable research has laid the foundation for our work, and we are indebted to them for their contributions to the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology & Microbiology, National College (Autonomous), Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, 620001, India

    Peerzada Gh Jeelani

  2. Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering & Technology Chinniyampalayam, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641062, India

    Bruce Joshua Sinclair, Gopi Krishna Perinbarajan & Harish Ganesan

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600036, India

    Nupur Ojha

  4. Nano-Food Research Group, Instrumental & Food Analysis Laboratory, Industrial Biotechnology Division, School of Bioscience & Technology, Vellore, India

    C. Ramalingam

  5. Gyeongsang National University 501 **ju-daero, **ju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea

    Pandiyan Muthuramalingam

  6. National Research Center (NRC), 33 El Buhouth St، Ad Doqi, Dokki, Cairo Governorate, 12622, Egypt

    Abdel-Tawab Mossa

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  1. Peerzada Gh Jeelani
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  2. Bruce Joshua Sinclair
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  3. Gopi Krishna Perinbarajan
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  6. C. Ramalingam
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Contributions

• Peerzada Gh Jeelani: conception and design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and drafting and critical revision of the manuscript (major contribution)

• Gopi Krishna Perinbarajan: conception and design of the study, data analysis and interpretation, and writing and revision of the manuscript (major contribution)

• Bruce Joshua Sinclair: conception and design of the study, data analysis and interpretation, and significant input in drafting and revising the manuscript (major contribution)

• Harish Ganesan: design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and writing and revision of the manuscript (major contribution)

• Nupur Ojha and C Ramalingam: conception and design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and writing and revision of the manuscript (major contribution)

• Pandiyan Muthuramalingam and Abdel-TawabMossa: Minor contributions in data collection, analysis, and manuscript review

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peerzada Gh Jeelani.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Highlights

• People seek out functional foods like chia seeds since poor lifestyle decisions result in health issues.

• Antioxidants and healthy acids are present in chia seeds, which may have therapeutic effects.

• They provide a healthy lipid balance thanks to phenolic acid and omega-3 fatty acids.

• Traditional medications for conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular problems may not be as effective as chia seeds.

• The pharmaceutical design of chia seeds for therapeutic use is examined in this review paper.

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Jeelani, P.G., Sinclair, B.J., Perinbarajan, G.K. et al. The therapeutic potential of chia seeds as medicinal food: a review. Nutrire 48, 39 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41110-023-00224-9

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