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Chemical Composition, Fatty Acid Profile, Phenolic Compounds, and Antioxidant Activity of Raw and Germinated Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) Seeds

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Abstract

The consumption of chia seeds has become popular due to their beneficial health properties and the germination of chia seeds seems to further enhance these properties. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in the nutritional composition of chia seeds after germination for 3 and 6 days. Chemical composition, fatty acid profile, phenolic content and antioxidant capacity were determined. The indices of lipid quality, atherogenicity, thrombogenicity, and the n-6/n-3 ratio were calculated. Chia sprouts presented a significant increase in minerals, proteins, and a reduction in total lipid content with maintenance of lipid quality. Total phenolic content decreased significantly as germination time increased, but there was a significant increase in the amount of rosmarinic acid. Chia sprouts showed a significant increase in antioxidant potential when compared to raw chia seeds. As a conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated that chia seed germination is a simple, economical, and short-term process capable of improving the nutritional composition of the seeds.

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Funding

This study was partially funded by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Funding Code 001, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq); and Foundation Carlos Chagas Filho Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) (project numbers E-26/211.830/2021 and E-26/210.919/2021).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nutrition, State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Vanessa dos Santos Chiappetta Nogueira Salgado, Lilia Zago, Marta Citelli & Roberta Fontanive Miyahira

  2. Department of Organic Chemistry, Chemistry Institute, State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Eduardo Nunes da Fonseca & Monica Regina da Costa Marques Calderari

Authors
  1. Vanessa dos Santos Chiappetta Nogueira Salgado
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  2. Lilia Zago
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  4. Monica Regina da Costa Marques Calderari
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  5. Marta Citelli
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  6. Roberta Fontanive Miyahira
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Contributions

V.S.C.N.S.: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Investigation. L.Z.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision. E.N.F.: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. M.R.C.M.C.: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. M.C.: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. R.F.M.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision.

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Correspondence to Roberta Fontanive Miyahira.

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Salgado, V.d.S.C.N., Zago, L., Fonseca, E.N.d. et al. Chemical Composition, Fatty Acid Profile, Phenolic Compounds, and Antioxidant Activity of Raw and Germinated Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) Seeds. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 78, 735–741 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-023-01115-0

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