Basil seed

Basil seeds are the small, oval, jet-black seeds produced by the flower spikes of sweet basil after the blossoms dry. They resemble poppy seeds in colour but are slightly larger and shiny.

Dry, they have almost no flavour. In water, each seed quickly forms a translucent, slippery gel coat around a dark centre, giving the look of tiny frogspawn or tapioca pearls, and a soft crunch at the centre when chewed.

They are sold whole in packets, often labelled sabja or tukmaria, and appear in drinks, desserts and packaged beverages. Basil seed should not be confused with chia, which is paler, speckled and takes longer to gel.

Sweet basil, Ocimum basilicum, is native to tropical regions of Asia and parts of Africa, with India often cited as an early centre of cultivation. The herb travelled westward along ancient trade routes and became established in the Mediterranean.

Basil seed as a food is mostly associated with South Asia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where particular varieties are grown or gathered for seed rather than leaf.

The word basil comes via Old French and Latin from Greek basilikon, meaning royal. Sabja is an Urdu and Hindi term of Persian origin for the plant, and tukmaria comes from Persian roots meaning seed.

The seeds have a long record in the Indian subcontinent and Persian-speaking regions. In Ayurvedic and Unani traditions, they were soaked in water or milk as a cooling drink in hot weather, and they were also used as a mild laxative and to soothe the stomach.

The Persian drink faloodeh, a cold dessert of rose syrup, noodles and ice, travelled to India with the Mughal court, where the seeds became a standard topping for falooda. Variations spread to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

In Thailand and Vietnam, basil seeds are added to sweet drinks and dessert syrups with the name hat e or hot e.

Interest outside Asia grew in the early 21st century, when basil seeds and their cousin chia were marketed as natural, fibre-rich superfoods in health food stores and in bottled drinks. The seeds are commonly sold in packets in South Asian grocery stores.

To use, soak a spoonful in a cup of water for fifteen minutes or so until the seeds are plump and gelled, then drain. They are stirred into lemonade, rose or fruit syrups, milkshakes, coconut water and iced tea, and layered into falooda and kulfi.

They can also be added to puddings, yoghurt, smoothies and dessert soups, and sometimes baked into bread. Their gel acts as a mild thickener.

In traditional medicine they have been taken as a cooling remedy and a digestive aid, but this use is based on custom rather than clinical testing.

Basil seeds are rich in soluble fibre, which forms the gel, and they contain some plant omega-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid), minerals and polyphenols. Because of the fibre, they can help you feel full and may modestly slow the rise in blood sugar after a meal.

Direct human research on basil seed is quite limited, so claims for weight loss or disease prevention are not well supported. They are best treated as a fibre-rich food addition rather than a remedy.