White vs Black Chia Seeds – Which One Has More Nutrients?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a one-ounce serving of chia seeds contains 11.2g of fiber & 5.6g of protein. This distinctively places these seeds in the category of super-foods, meaning they are nutrition-dense foods that can positively affect one’s health.
The growth of super-foods globally has caused people to chase the experts in a quest to know what’s best for them. Likewise, the same is happening in the case of chia seeds.
The chia seeds have grown in popularity, causing a lot of deliberations recently. As the question remains: between the black and white chia seeds, which is better?
Let’s reveal the interesting facts between these two types of chia seeds.
What’s the Difference between White and Black Chia Seeds?
To have a clear understanding between these two seeds, let’s take it back to the beginning – And jump into history.
The chia seed is from the Salvia hispanica plant originating from Central America. Although there is no clear proof to which country these seeds were first grown, you can say they both were grown in Mexico and Guatemala.
History has reflected that the chia seeds served as a power source to the ancient Aztecs and Mayans, further proving the advantages of chia seeds as a super-food. These tiny seeds were a staple food to the Aztec cultures.
Both the white and black chia seeds are grown by the same mint plant. It was only around the early 90s that it first gained major recognition as a nutrient-dense food.
They can grow in almost all the fertile regions of the world with no difference in nutrition. Many arguments have taken place to decide which among the two seeds is better. Throughout all that took place, a minimal close to no differences have been encountered. You can find the chia seed’s genotype to have a larger effect on yield rather than nutrition.
You should have it at the back of your mind that both the white and black seeds are from the same plant. The main cause of any difference in color or nutrition of plants is heritability.
Heritability is what decides any difference in the same organisms, as seen in humans. For example, when we inherit certain characteristics from our parents, it is known as heredity.
Heredity comes as a result of genetic dominance. A gene is either classified as recessive or dominant because it is more prominent and common.
In the case of these two seeds, scientists find only a single recessive gene. This single recessive gene is the main reason for the white-colored chia seed.
At this point, you will take into note that color is by far the difference that separates the two seeds. Among the cultivated varieties of chia seeds, seed weight and color have the highest heritability. We can go on and on to discuss this but let’s take a look at some divided points.
There is no nutrition difference between black and white chia seeds.
As presented in the above discussion, they both are super-foods with dense nutrition. 1-ounce of chia seeds supplies 18% of daily calcium needs.
It can also provide up to 27% & 30% of daily phosphorous and manganese needs, respectively. Moreover, chia seeds as plant-based foods help fight obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases.
In conclusion, there is next to no nutritional difference between the black and white chia seeds.
There is no taste difference between these two types of chia seeds.
There is ultimately no difference in taste between the black and white chia seeds. This is because both seeds come from the same plant and have almost the same chemistry.
The two chia seeds are eaten and prepared in the same way and thus, any potential taste difference is eliminated. The major difference, which happens to be the color, does not contribute to both seeds’ taste.
The appearances difference
The appearance between the white and black chia seeds all comes from the names. However, the black ones may not be completely black due to the dark brown complexion.
Meanwhile, the white chia seeds look more white plus a combination of marbled light colors. The black ones come from the purple floured plant while the white seeds come from the white-flowered chia plant.
Which is better for a smoothie?
We all know that the key difference between these seeds is color. And so what difference will it make? The question here is, why is fruit color important in preparing food?
Fresh fruits in different arrays of colors happen to be more appealing than generic shades. We can also remind ourselves that color means more flavor and taste.
This might not apply to the chia seeds, but it’s how humans think and reason. Using a black chia seed against a lightly colored group of fruits will be much more appealing than using white ones.
In the end, black chia seeds blend well in a group of fruits more than white ones. Take note that this can change when you use fruits of different colors.
