Yerba mate

Yerba mateoryerba-maté(/ˈjɜːrbəˈmɑːteɪ/),Ilexparaguariensis, is a plantspeciesof thehollygenus native to South America.It was named by the French botanistAugustin Saint-Hilaire.The leaves of the plant can be steeped in hot water to make a beverage known asmaté. Brewed cold, it is used to maketereré. Both the plant and the beverage containcaffeine.
The indigenousGuaraníand someTupicommunities (whose territory covered present-dayParaguay) first cultivated and consumed yerba mate prior toEuropean colonization of the Americas. Its consumption was exclusive to the natives of only two regions of the territory that today is Paraguay, more specifically the departments ofAmambayandAlto Paraná.After theJesuitsdiscovered its commercialization potential, yerba mate became widespread throughout the province and even elsewhere in the Spanish Crown.
Mate is traditionally consumed in central and southern regions of South America, primarily in Paraguay, as well as in Argentina, Uruguay,Southern Brazil, theGran Chacoof Bolivia, andSouthern Chile.It has also become popular in theDruzeandAlawitecommunity in the Levant, especially in Syria and Lebanon, where it is imported from Paraguay and Argentina, thanks to 19th-centurySyrian immigrants to Argentina.Yerba mate can now be found worldwide in variousenergy drinksas well as being sold as a bottled or cannediced tea.
The name given to the plant in theGuaranílanguage (of the indigenous people who first used mate) iska'a, which has the same meaning as 'herb'.Congonha, in Portuguese, a term describing several herb species,is derived from theTupíexpressionkõ'gõi,meaning something like 'what keeps us alive', but is rarely used nowadays.Mateis from theQuechuamati,a word that means 'container for a drink' and 'infusion of an herb', as well as 'gourd'.The wordmateis used in modern Portuguese and Spanish.
The pronunciation ofyerba matein Spanish is[ˈɟʝeɾβaˈmate].The stress on the wordmAtefalls on the first syllable.The wordhierbais Spanish for 'herb';yerbais the variant spelling ofhierbaused throughout Latin America.Yerbamay be understood as 'herb', but also as 'grass' or 'weed'. It may also be used in reference to marijuana (Cannabis sativa). In Argentina,yerbarefers exclusively to theyerba mateplant.Yerba mate, therefore, originally translated as literally the 'gourd herb'; i.e., the herb one drinks from a gourd.
The Portuguese name for the plant is pronounced variously as[ˈɛɾvɐˈmate,-tʃi], in the areas of traditional consumption. The drinks are usually calledchimarrão[ʃimaˈʁɐ̃w](hot; traditionally served in a gourd),tereré[teɾeˈɾɛ](cold; traditionally served in a bull horn), orchá mate[ˈʃaˈmate](hot or cold; lit. 'mate tea', served in cups or glasses). Whilechá mateis made with roasted leaves, the other drinks are made with raw or lightly toasted green leaves, and are very popular in the south and center-west of the country. Most people, colloquially, call both the plant and the beverage by the wordmate.
In English, both the spellingsmateandmatéare used to refer to the plant or the beverage. The latter spelling is unfaithful to both Spanish and Portuguese, where the accent would incorrectly move the stress from the first syllable to the second.Theacute accentover the final '-e' in the English spelling was likely added by analogy with words of French origin like café, not to mark stress but to indicate that the '-e' is notsilentas inmate(partner or friend);indeed French also uses the spelling with the accent.Spanish meanwhile has an unrelated wordmaté, meaning 'I killed', a conjugated form of the verbmatar.
Ilex paraguariensisbegins as ashruband then matures to a tree, growing up to 15 meters (49 ft) tall. The leaves areevergreen, 7–110 millimeters (0.3–4.3 in) long and 30–55 millimeters (1.2–2.2 in) wide, with serrated margins. The leaves are often calledyerba(Spanish) orerva(Portuguese), both of which mean "herb". They containcaffeine(known in some parts of the world as mateine) and relatedxanthinealkaloids, and are harvested commercially.
Theflowersare small and greenish-white with four petals. The fruit is a reddrupe4–6 millimeters (0.16–0.24 in) in diameter.
Mate was first consumed by the indigenousGuaraní peopleand also spread in theTupí peoplethat lived in the departments ofAmambayandAlto Paranáthe territory of Paraguay.Its consumption became widespread during European colonization,particularly in the Spanish colony of Paraguay in the late 16th century, among both Spanish settlers and indigenous Guaraní, who had, to some extent before the Spanish arrival, consumed it.This widespread consumption turned it into Paraguay's main commodity above other wares, such astobacco, and the labour of indigenous peoples was used to harvest wild stands.
In the mid-17th century,Jesuitsmanaged to domesticate the plant and establish plantations intheir Indian reductionsinMisiones, Argentina, sparking severe competition with the Paraguayan harvesters of wild stands.It is here when the plant began its incursion into other non-Paraguayan territories. Aftertheir expulsionin the 1770s, their plantations fell into decay, as did their domestication secrets.The industry continued to be of prime importance for the Paraguayan economy after independence, but development in benefit of the Paraguayan state halted after theWar of the Triple Alliance(1864–1870) that devastated the country both economically and demographically.Some regions with mate plantations in Paraguaybecame Argentine territory.
Brazil then became the largest producer of mate.In Brazilian and Argentine projects in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the plant was domesticated once again, opening the way for plantation systems.When Brazilian entrepreneurs turned their attention tocoffeein the 1930s, Argentina, which had long been the prime consumer,took over as the largest producer, resurrecting the economy inMisiones Province, where the Jesuits had once had most of their plantations. For years, the status of largest producer shifted between Brazil and Argentina.Today, Brazil is the largest producer, with 53%, followed by Argentina, 37%, and Paraguay, 10%.
In the city ofCampo Largo, state ofParaná, Brazil, there is a Mate Historic Park (Portuguese:Parque Histórico do Mate), funded by the state government to educate people on the sustainable harvesting methods needed to maintain the integrity and vitality of the oldest wild forests of mate in the world. As of June 2014, however, the park is closed to public visitation.
The yerba mate plant is grown and processed in its native regions of South America, specifically in Paraguay, some parts of northern Argentina (Misiones), Uruguay, and southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul,Santa Catarina,Paraná, andMato Grosso do Sul). Cultivators are known asyerbateros(Spanish) orervateiros(Brazilian Portuguese).
Seeds used to germinate new plants are harvested after they have turned dark purple, typically from January to April. After harvest, they are submerged in water in order to eliminate floating non-viable seeds and detritus like twigs, leaves, etc. New plants are started between March and May. For plants established in pots, transplanting takes place April through September. Plants with bare roots are transplanted only during the months of June and July.
Many of the natural enemies of yerba mate are difficult to control in plantation settings. Insect pests includeGyropsylla spegazziniana, atrue bugthat lays eggs in the branches;Hedyphates betulinus, atype of beetlethat weakens the tree and makes it more susceptible to mold and mildew;Perigonia lusca,amothwhose larvae eat the leaves; and several species ofmites.P. luscamay be controlled with anuclear polyhedrosis virusused as abiopesticide. This was first applied in 1992.
WhenI. paraguariensisis harvested, the branches are often dried by a wood fire, imparting asmoky flavor. The strength of the flavor, caffeine levels, and other nutrients can vary depending on whether it is a male or female plant. Female plants tend to be milder in flavor and lower in caffeine. They are also relatively scarce in the areas where yerba mate is planted and cultivated.
According toFood and Agriculture Organizationin 2012, Brazil is the biggest producer of mate in the world with 513,256 metric tonnes (MT) (58%), followed by Argentina with 290,000 MT (32%) and Paraguay with 85,490 MT (10%).
The infusion, calledmatein Spanish-speaking countries andchimarrãoin Brazil, is prepared by filling a container, traditionally a small, hollowed-outgourd(described below), up to three-quarters full with dry leaves (and twigs) ofI. paraguariensis, and filling it up with water at a temperature of 70–80 °C (158–176 °F), hot but not boiling. Sugar may or may not be added. The infusion may also be prepared with cold water, in which case it is known astereré.
Drinking mate is a common social practice in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Southern Brazil, and Southern Chile among people of all ages, and is often a communal ritual following customary rules. Friends and family members share from the same container, traditionally a hollow gourd (also called aguampa,porongo, or simplymatein Spanish, acabaçaorcuiain Portuguese, or azuccain Italian), and drink through the same wooden or metal straw (abombillain Spanish orbombain Portuguese). The gourd is given by the brewer to each person, often in a circle, in turns. The recipient drinks the few mouthfuls in the container, and then returns the mate to the brewer, who refills it and passes it to the next person in clockwise order. The recipient is not supposed to give thanks until they are done drinking the beverage, and if they do, they will not be served any moremates. Although traditionally made from a hollowed calabash gourd, these days mate "gourds" are produced from a variety of materials including wood, glass, bull horns, ceramic, and silicone.
In the same way as people meet for tea or coffee, friends often gather and drink mate (matear) in Paraguay, Argentina, Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Southern Chile. In warm weather the hot water is sometimes replaced bylemonade. Paraguayans typically drink yerba mate with cold water during hot days and hot water in the morning and during cooler temperatures.
Yerba mate is most popular in Paraguay and Uruguay, where people are seen walking the streets carrying themateand often atermo(thermalvacuum flask) in their arms. In Argentina, 5 kg (11 lb) of yerba mate is consumed annually per capita; in Uruguay, the largest consumer, consumption is 10 kg (22 lb).The amount of herb used to prepare the infusion is much greater than that used for tea and other beverages, which accounts for the large weights.
The flavor of brewed mate resembles an infusion of vegetables, herbs, and grass and is reminiscent of some varieties ofgreen tea. Some consider the flavor to be very agreeable, but it is generally bitter if steeped in hot water. Sweetened and flavored mate is also sold, in which the mate leaves are blended with other herbs (such as peppermint) or citrus rind.
In Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, a version of mate known asmate cocido(or justmateorcocido) in Paraguay andchá matein Brazil is sold in teabags and in a loose-leaf form. It is often served sweetened in specialized shops or on the street, either hot or iced, pure or with fruit juice (especiallylime, known in Brazil aslimão) or milk. In Paraguay, Argentina, and Southern Brazil, this is commonly consumed for breakfast or in a café for afternoon tea, often with a selection of sweet pastries (facturas).
An iced, sweetened version ofmate cocidois sold as an uncarbonatedsoft drink, with or without fruit flavoring. In Brazil, this cold version ofchá mateis especially popular in the south and southeast regions, and can easily be found in retail stores in the same cooler as other soft drinks.Mate batido, which is toasted, has less of a bitter flavor and more of a spicy fragrance.Mate batidobecomes creamy when shaken and is more popular in the coastal cities of Brazil, as opposed to the far southern states, where it is more commonly consumed in the traditional way (green, with a silver straw from a shared gourd), and calledchimarrão(cimarrónin Spanish, particularly Argentine Spanish).
In Paraguay, Southern Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul, west ofSão PauloandParaná), and theArgentine littoral, a mate infusion, calledtereréin Spanish and Portuguese or sometimestererêinGaúcho,Caipiraand Sulista Portuguese, is also consumed as a cold or iced beverage, usually sucked out of a horn cup called aguampawith abombilla. The Guarani used to drink it in this format, but without the ice as they did not have the technology for it, reason why, it is accredited to be the first and original way of consumption.Tererécan be prepared with cold water (the most common way in Paraguay and Brazil) or fruit juice (the most common way in Argentina). The version with water is more bitter; fruit juice acts as a sweetener (in Brazil, this is usually avoided with the addition of table sugar). Medicinal or culinary herbs, known asyuyos(weeds), may be crushed with apestle and mortarand added to the water for taste or medicinal reasons.
Paraguayans have a tradition of mixing mate with crushed leaves, stems, and flowers of the plant known asflor de agosto(the flower of August, plants of the genusSenecio, particularlySenecio grisebachii), which containpyrrolizidine alkaloids. Modifying mate in this fashion is potentially toxic, as these alkaloids can causeveno-occlusive disease, a rare condition of theliverwhich results in liver failure due to progressive occlusion of the smallvenous channels.
Mate has also become popular outside of South America. In the tiny hamlet ofGroot Marico,North West Province, South Africa, mate was introduced to the local tourism office by the returning descendants of theBoers, who in 1902 had emigrated toPatagoniain Argentina after losing theAnglo Boer War. It is also commonly consumed in Lebanon, Syria, and some other parts of the Middle East, mainly byDruzeandAlawitepeople. Most of its popularity outside South America is a result of historical emigration to South America and subsequent return. It is consumed worldwide by expatriates from theSouthern Cone.
Matervais a sweet, carbonated soft drink based on yerba mate. Developed in Cuba in 1920, and produced since the 1960s inMiami, Florida, it is a staple of the Cuban culture in Miami.
Yerba mate contains a variety of polyphenols, such as theflavonoids,quercetinandrutin.
Yerba mate contains threexanthines:caffeine,theobromine, andtheophylline, with caffeine content varying between 0.7% and 1.7% of dry weight(compared with 0.4–9.3% fortealeaves, 2.5–7.6% inguarana, and up to 3.2% for groundcoffee).Theobromine content varies from 0.3% to 0.9%; theophylline is typically present only in small quantities or sometimes completely absent.In some circles, mateine is a referential term for caffeine when found present in yerba mate (similar to theine from tea or guaranine from guarana).Yerba mate also containsminerals, such aspotassium,magnesium, andmanganese.
There has been nogood evidencefor yerba mate having an effect onbody weightin humansalthough a later study suggested there can be positive effects.
Hot maté consumption is associated withoesophageal cancer. Very hot beverages (above 65°C) are classified by theInternational Agency for Research on Cancer(IARC) asprobably carcinogenic to humans(group 2A), which also includes hot maté, as it is typically consumed at a temperature of 70°C. This classification indicates that the link between very hot beverage consumption and cancer is likely, but the proportion of oesophageal cancer cases due to drinking very hot beverages is not yet known.There is no such association for cold maté and, in general, preparations under 65°C are not considered carcinogenic and are evaluated asnot classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans(group 3).
Since the traditional preparation of yerba maté leaves involvessmokingthem they contain a high number ofpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), such asbenzo(a)pyrene, which arecarcinogenic.It has been suggested that this may explain other cancers associated with maté consumption, such aslungandbladder cancerHowever, the occurrence of PAHs in maté leaves and infusion is based on small studies with non-representative sampling.In any case, the use of maté with potentially lower PAHs content, such as unsmoked maté, has been suggested as a preventive approach.