Yerba Mate

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Yerba Mate Maté

• Martin Listur
• list1400_at_wlu.ca

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Taxonomy    
    (Wikipedia, 2007)
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What is Maté ?
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the national drink of Argentina and Uruguay
a cultural and medicinal tea-like beverage
social practice
unity
friendship
cultural phenomenon
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Maté
the word "Maté" is Spanish for gourd,
which is a hollow dried shell of the fruit from
the Cucurbutaceae family
and alludes to the gourd cup from which it is
normally served
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La Bombilla
Inside the maté, there is a bombilla
which is a metal tube or drinking straw
with a strainer at the lower end
which serves to strain out the Yerba Maté
fragments of the beverage beverage
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Drinking Maté
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The gourd is traditionally filled up to ¾
of its capacity with dried minced leaves of the
Yerba Maté
however if a less potent taste is desired
then the gourd is filled up to ½ of its capacity
Hot water is poured
and then allowed to stand
so the Maté leaves to absorb the water
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then
with the aid of
la "bombilla"
you drink.
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An Acquired Taste
vegetal, herbal, and grassy, reminiscent of some
varieties of green tea flavour
"Maté Dulce"


or, add herbs such as mint.
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Other Uses for Maté
treatment for mental and physical fatigue,
weight-loss aid,
a depurative,
peripheral vasoconstriction,
rheumatic pains,
stimulation of the hearts muscular tissues and
central nervous system
an appetite suppressor,
depression,
a diuretic,
a treatment for asthenia,
headaches, allergies, arthritis, constipation,
Stress
a tonic,
fluid retention, hemorrhoids
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Ilex paraguariensis
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• Commonly known as Yerba Mate
• Belongs to the Aquifoliaceae family
• Perennial tree that is widely cultivated
• Requires 25 years to develop completely,
  potential to reach heights of upwards to 20m.
• During cultivatation, the branches are pruned
  and reduced to 4-8 meters tall
• Their dried leaves and stemlets are then reduced
  to a mixtured called yerba that is added to
  the gourd
• Several procedures in which the leaves are
  prepared
• Cutting the branches from the plant and roasting
  them over a fire
• (2) Cutting the branches from the plant, boiling
  the leaves in water followed by the drying them
  in pans over a fire or in parrilleros

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Legend of the Guarani Indians
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The Social Practice of Maté
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"El Cebador"
(designated server)
commences by pouring a maté for himself.
After testing the beverage, the server
starts the circulation of the maté in any desired
direction
The passing of the gourd continues until
the matés condition becomes watered down
or lavado and devoid of all its flavour
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of Drinking Maté in a Group Setting
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References   1.      Alikaridis, F. Natural
constituents of Ilex species. J. Ethnopharmacol.
1987 20(2) 12144. 2.      Dickel, M. L., et
al. "Plants popularly used for loosing weight
purposes in Porto Alegre, South Brazil." J.
Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Jan 109(1) 60-71. 3.     
Gorzalczany, S., et al. Choleretic effect and
intestinal propulsion of maté (Ilex
paraguariensis) and its substitutes of
adulterants." J. Ethnopharmacol. 2001 75(23)
29194. 4.      Taylor, L. The Healing Power of
Rainforest Herbs A Guide to Understanding and
Using Herbal Medicinals. Square One Publishers.
2005. 5.      Assis Jacques R, dos Santos
Freitas L, Flores Peres V, Dariva C, de Oliveira
JV, Bastos Caramao E. Chemical composition of
mate tea leaves (Ilex paraguariensis) a study of
extraction methods. J Sep Sci. 2006
Dec29(18)2780-4. 6.      Etile D. Spegazzini,
María T. Castro, Stella M. Carpano, Marta T.
Nájera. Taxonomic Determination of Therapeutic
Argentine Species of Ilex. Pharmaceutical
Biology Volume 40, Number 1. 2002 7.     
Raintree Nutrition, Inc. Online
http//www.rain-tree.com/plants.htm February
2007 8.      Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
Mate Beverage Online http//en.wikipedia.org/wi
ki/Mate_28beverage29 February 2007 9.     
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Yerba Mate
Online http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate
February 2007 10.  No Borders Net Services,
Yerba Mate Online. Online http//www.noborders.ne
t/mate/index.html 2004 11. Rangahau, Mana Kai
Mate (Ilex paraguariensis). New Zealand
Institute for Crop Food Research LTD. 2002 12. 
Goldenberg D., Golz A., Joachims HZ. The
beverage mate a risk factor for cancer of the
head and neck.. PubMed. 2003.