Seed Structure

If you are able, look at some chia seeds under a magnifying glass, pocket microscope, or dissecting microscope. The small oval seeds of chia are mottled and remind me of miniature dinosaur eggs. Occasionally there are white, or albino seeds, but the usual color is dark gray with black mottling. Chia seeds are used for ChiaPets because of their unusual seed coat which becomes mucilaginous when wetted. Mucilaginous simply means sticky. The mucilaginous seed coat enables the seeds to stick to the ceramic planter. The seed coat is mucilaginous due to a mucopolysaccharide. Polysaccharides are carbohydrate polymers. Starch and cellulose are more familiar carbohydrate polymers. Scientists at Purdue University have recently determined the chemical structure of the chia seed polysaccharide gel (Lin et al. 1994).