What is Agave?

Agave syrup (AS), a food product made from agave plant sap, is a vegan sweetener that has become popular for replacing conventional sweeteners such as sucrose. It is also referred to as agave nectar, is a recently developed (post-1990)food product made from agave plant sap, particularly Agave salmiana and Agave tequilana, that is, salmiana and blue agave, respectively. Given its low glycemic index and vegan status, this product has become popular as a substitute for traditional sweeteners such astable sugar (sucrose) and honey.

How is it obtained?

The agave species A. tequilana Weber var. Azul and A. angustifolia, mainly, have been widely used to elaborate Mexican alcoholic beverages and spirits with great tradition, prestige, and international recognition (Álvarez-Chávez, Villamiel, Santos-Zea, & Ramírez-Jiménez, 2021).

In recent years, despite its consolidation, the agave industry has sought to diversify its products due to the techno-functional properties found in different agave species (Álvarez-Chávez et al., 2021). From this perspective, agave plants and their subproducts have been evaluated as possible raw materials to produce different products for human consumption, such as prebiotics and sweeteners (Verma et al., 2021).

Applications

• Bake it in simple cookies where you can really taste its nuances and take advantage of the additional fiber.
• Use Agave syrup as a topping for pancakes, crepes, ice-cream, muffins, your morning oatmeal, or to add caramel coloring to the top of your favorite pie.
• You can add a sprinkle of Agave Powder to fresh fruit, to plain yogurt, or hot cereals. It is also used in whole grain bread recipes which call for Agave.