| Yerba mate, erva mate, mate, or maté | |
|---|---|
| Ilex paraguariensis | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Aquifoliales |
| Family: | Aquifoliaceae |
| Genus: | Ilex |
| Species: | I. paraguariensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hil. |
|
Yerba mate (IPA: [ˌʝerβa ˈmat̪e]; also spelled in English as maté, from the Spanish: yerba mate, Portuguese: erva-mate, IPA: [ˌɛʁvɐ ˈmatʃi]), binomial name Ilex paraguariensis, is a species of holly (family Aquifoliaceae), well-known as the source of the mate beverage, which is native to subtropical South America in northeastern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.[1] It was first used and cultivated by the Guaraní people, also in some Tupí people communities in southern Brazil, prior to the European colonization. It was scientifically classified by the Swiss botanist Moses Bertoni, who settled in Paraguay in 1895.
The yerba plant, Ilex paraguariensis, is a shrub or small tree growing up to 15 meters tall. The leaves are evergreen, 7–11 cm long and 3–5.5 cm wide, with a serrated margin. The flowers are small, greenish-white, with four petals. The fruit is a red drupe 4–6 mm in diameter. The leaves are often called Spanish: yerba or Portuguese: erva, both of which mean "herb." They contain caffeine and related compounds and are harvested commercially.
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The plant is grown and processed mainly in South America, more specifically in northern Argentina (Corrientes, Misiones), Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul). Cultivators are known as yerbateros (Spanish speakers) or ervamateiros (Brazil).
When the mate is harvested, the branches are dried sometimes with a wood fire, imparting a smoky flavor. Then the leaves and sometimes the twigs are broken up.
The plant Ilex paraguariensis can vary in strength of the flavor, caffeine levels and other nutrients 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 mate is planted and cultivated, not wild-harvested, compared to the male plants.[2]
According to FAO, Brazil is the biggest producer of mate in the world with 434,727 MT (53%), followed by Argentina with 300,000 MT (37%) and Paraguay with 76,663 MT (10%).[3]
The infusion, called mate in Spanish-speaking countries or chimarrão in Brazil, is prepared by steeping dry leaves (and twigs) of the mate plant in hot water, rather than in boiling water. Drinking mate with friends from a shared hollow gourd (also called a guampa or mate in Spanish, or cabaça or cuia in Portuguese, or zucca in Italian) with a metal straw (a bombilla in Spanish, bomba in Portuguese) is a common social practice in Argentina and southern Brazil among people of all ages; the beverage is also very popular in Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru and Chile, eastern Bolivia and other states of Brazil, and has been cultivated in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
The flavor of brewed mate is strongly vegetal, herbal, and grassy, reminiscent of some varieties of green tea. Some consider the flavor to be very agreeable, but it is generally bitter if steeped in boiling water. Flavored mate is also sold, in which the mate leaves are blended with another herb (such as peppermint) or citrus rind.
In Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, a toasted version of mate, known as mate cocido (Paraguay), chá mate (Brazil) or just mate, is sold in teabag and loose form, and served, sweetened, in specialized shops, either hot or iced with fruit juice or milk. The same is sold in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay in tea bags to be drunk as a tea. In Argentina and southern Brazil, this is commonly drunk for breakfast or in the café for afternoon tea, often with a selection of sweet pastries. It is also made by heating mate in water and straining it as it cools.
An iced, sweetened version of toasted mate is sold as an uncarbonated soft drink, with or without fruit flavoring[4]. The toasted variety of mate has less of a bitter flavor and more of a spicy fragrance. When shaken, it becomes creamy (since the formed foam gets well mixed and lasts for some time), known as mate batido. It is more popular in the coastal cities of Brazil, as opposed to the far southern states, where it is consumed in the traditional way (green, drunk with a silver straw from a shared gourd), and called chimarrão. In Argentina, this is called cimarrón.
In Paraguay, western Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul, west of São Paulo) and the Litoral Argentino, a mate infusion is also drunk as a cold or iced beverage and called tereré or tererê (in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively), usually sucked out of a horn cup called guampa with a bombilla. It could be prepared using cold or iced water (the most common way in Paraguay) or using cold or iced fruit juice (the most common way in Argentina). The "only water" version may be too bitter, but the one prepared using fruit juice is sweetened by the juice itself. Medicinal herbs, known as yuyos, are mixed in a mortar and pestle and added to the water for taste or medicinal reasons. Tereré is consumed in Paraguay and the Litoral (northeast Argentina).
In the Rio de la Plata region, people often consume daily servings of mate such as Taragüi mate from Establecimiento Las Marías; in fact, it is common for friends to convene to matear several times a week. In cold weather, the beverage is served hot and in warm weather the hot water is often substituted with lemonade, but not in Uruguay. Children often take mate with lemonade or milk, as well.
As Europeans often meet at a coffee shop, drinking mate is the impetus for gathering with friends in Argentina, southern Brazil and Uruguay. Sharing mate is ritualistic and has its own set of rules. Usually, one person, the host or whoever brought the mate, prepares the drink and refills the gourd with water. In these three countries, the hot water can be contained in a vacuum flask, termo (appropriate for drinking mate in the outside), or in a pava (kettle), garrafa térmica (Brazil), or, which only can be done at home.
The gourd is passed around, often in a circle, and each person finishes the gourd before giving it back to the brewer. The gourd (also called a mate) is passed in a clockwise order. Since mate can be rebrewed many times, the gourd is passed until the water runs out. When persons no longer want to take mate, they say gracias (thank you) to the brewer when returning the gourd to signify they do not want any more.
During the month of August, Paraguayans have a tradition of mixing mate with crushed leaves, stems, and flowers of the plant known as flor de Agosto[5] (the flower of August, groundsels or ragworts of the Senecio genus), which contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Modifying mate in this fashion is potentially toxic, as these alkaloids can cause a rare condition of the liver, veno-occlusive disease, which produces liver failure due to progressive occlusion of the small venous channels in the liver.[6]
In South Africa, mate is not well known, but has been introduced to Stellenbosch by a student who sells it nationally. In the tiny hamlet of Groot Marico in the northwest province, mate was introduced to the local tourism office by the returning descendants of the Boers, who in 1902 had emigrated to Patagonia in Argentina after losing the Anglo Boer War. It is also commonly consumed in Syria and other parts of the Middle East.
Mate contains three xanthines: caffeine, theobromine and theophylline, the main one being caffeine. Caffeine content varies between 0.7% and 1.7% of dry weight[7] (compared with 0.4– 0.9% for tea leaves, 2.5-7.6% in guarana, and up to 3.2% for ground coffee);[8] theobromine content varies from 0.3-0.9%; theophylline is present in small quantities, or can be completely absent.[9] A substance previously called "mateine" is a synonym for caffeine (like theine and guaranine).
Preliminary limited studies of mate have shown that the mate xanthine cocktail is different from other plants containing caffeine, most significantly in its effects on muscle tissue, as opposed to those on the central nervous system, which are similar to those of other natural stimulants. The three xanthines present in mate have been shown to have a relaxing effect on smooth muscle tissue, and a stimulating effect on myocardial (heart) tissue.
Mate also contains elements such as potassium, magnesium and manganese.[10]
As of 2011 there has not been any double-blind, randomized prospective clinical trial of mate drinking with respect to chronic disease.[11] Some none blinded studies have found mate consumption to be effective in lipid lowering.[11]
Mate consumption is associated with oral cancer[12] esophagus cancer, cancer of the larynx,[13] and squamous cell of the head and neck.[14][15] While the mechanism is believed to be due to the effect of temperature the evidence to support these association is poor.[13]
A study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer showed a limited correlation between oral cancer and the drinking of large quantities of hot mate. Smaller quantities (less than 1 liter daily) and warm rather than hot mate consumption were found to increase risk only slightly; alcohol and tobacco consumption had a synergistic effect on increasing oral, throat, and esophageal cancer. The increased risk, rather than stemming from the mate itself, could be credited to the high temperatures in which the mate is consumed in its most traditional way, the chimarrão. The cellular damage caused by thermal stress could lead the esophagus and gastric epithelium to be metaplasic, adapting to the chronic injury. Then, mutations would lead to cellular dysplasia and to cancer.[16] Given the influence of the temperature of water, as well as the lack of complete adjustment for age, alcohol consumption and smoking, the study concludes that mate is "not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans".[17]
Little data is available on the effects of yerba mate on weight in humans and further study may be warranted.[18]
Research also shows that mate preparations can alter the concentration of members of the ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase (E-NTPDase) family, resulting in an elevated level of extracellular ATP, ADP, and AMP. This was found with chronic ingestion (15 days) of an aqueous mate extract, and may lead to a novel mechanism for manipulation of vascular regenerative factors, i.e., treating heart disease.[19]
In an investigation of mate antioxidant activity, there was a correlation found between content of caffeoyl-derivatives and antioxidant capacity (AOC).[20][21] Amongst a group of Ilex species, Ilex paraguariensis antioxidant activity was the highest.[20]
Mate was first consumed by the indigenous Guaraní and also spread in the Tupí people that lived in southern Brazil and Paraguay, and became widespread with the European colonization. In the Spanish colony of Paraguay in the late 16th century, both Spanish settlers and indigenous Guaranís, who had, to some extent, before the Spanish arrival, consumed it. Mate consumption spread in the 17th century to the River Plate and from there to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. This widespread consumption turned it into Paraguay's main commodity above other wares, such as tobacco, and Indian labour was used to harvest wild stands.
In the mid 17th century, Jesuits managed to domesticate the plant and establish plantations in their Indian reductions in Misiones, sparking severe competition with the Paraguayan harvesters of wild stands. After their expulsion in 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 the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) that devastated the country both economically and demographically. Some regions with mate plantations in Paraguay became Argentinean 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 to coffee in the 1930s, Argentina, which had long been the prime consumer,[22] took over as the largest producer, resurrecting the economy in Misiones Province, where the Jesuits had once had most of their plantations. For years, the status of largest producer shifted between Brazil and Argentina. [22]
Now, Brazil is the largest producer, with 53%, followed by Argentina, 37% and Paraguay, 10%. [3]
There is a Parque Historico do Mate, funded by the State of Parana, Brazil, 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.[2]
The name given to the plant in Guaraní (Guarani, in Portuguese), language of the indigenous people who first cultivated and enjoyed mate, is ka'a, which has the same meaning as "herb". Congonha, in Portuguese, is derived from the Tupi expression, meaning something like "what keeps us alive".
The pronunciation of yerba mate in Spanish is [ˈʝerβa ˈmate]. The accent on the word is on the first syllable, not the second as might be implied by the variant spelling "maté." The word hierba is Spanish for "grass" or "herb"; yerba is a variant spelling of it which is quite common in Argentina. Mate is from the Quechua mati, meaning "gourd" or the cup made from a gourd. Yerba mate, therefore, translates literally as the "gourd herb", i.e. the herb one drinks from a gourd.
The (Brazilian) Portuguese name is erva-mate [ˈɛʁva ˈmati] (also pronounced [ˈɛʁva ˈmate] in some regions); it is also used to prepare the drinks chimarrão (hot) or tereré (cold). While the tea is made with the toasted leaves, these drinks are made with green ones, and are very popular in the south of the country.
Both the spellings "mate" and "maté" are used in English, but the latter spelling, "maté", is never used in Spanish; instead, it means "I killed" as opposed to "gourd". There is no variation of spellings in Spanish. The addition of the acute accent over the final "e" was likely added as a hypercorrection, indicating that the word and its pronunciation are distinct from the common English word "mate". The addition of the accent over the "e" is correct Spanish grammar to indicate past tense in the first person, not just a widespread English error.[23][24][25][26][27]
In Argentina, there are more than 200 brands in the market, many very local. There are approximately 10 companies with some national presence, accounting for 80% of the market. The market leader is Las Marias, with slightly more than 30% of the Argentine mate market. Taragüí is the leading brand of Las Marias.[28]
In Argentina, mate is present in 95% of households and 79% of the population drinks the beverage. The vast majority drink it in the traditional way. The act of consuming mate is also a social occasion. The beverage is also available in tea bags, representing roughly 5% of the market.
Mate harvested at different times and from different areas have different characteristics. For instance, north Misiones Province has a heavier taste than Corrientes Province, and mate harvested in summer is higher in caffeine then that of spring and fall.
Since mate dominates the beverage market in Argentina, it dominates the grocery shelves. In a leading supermarket in Buenos Aires, shelf space dedicated to mate is eight times the size of that of coffee and tea combined. Mate is also sold in most neighborhood markets and many street kiosks. It is as ubiquitous as soft drinks are in many other markets.