FAMILY :: AQUIFOLIACEAE
$250 pesos (small plant)
$1500 pesos (large plant, 5 years old – limited quantities)
YERBA MATE, MATE, PARAGUAYAN TEA: Mate is one of the most popular stimulating beverages in South America. Contains caffeine (up to 2%) and theobromine and is somewhat stronger than coffee or tea. Mate is also used as a tonic, nervine, diuretic and stimulant.
A holly, this plant is often kept trimmed to shrub size and can be grown in a tub in northern climates and either in tubs or in the ground in subtropical or tropical situations. It survives temperatures down to about 25° f. In Vallarta, it is the most productive and easiest to grow of all of the caffeine containing plants that we grow.
Give young plants some shade. Likes humidity and heat. Needs well-drained acid soil. It is evergreen and dioecious. Currently, we have only female plants. Female plants tend to be milder in flavor and slightly lower in caffeine than the male.
Recently there have been health scares about Yerba mate being a source of exposure to a carcinogen, PAH (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). I’ve reviewed many of the studies and it is glaringly apparent that the PAH is only found in commercial samples of mate. It does not exist in the plant, itself, but rather in the fire-roasted leaves that are sold commercially. I am a strong proponent of the scientific method but the studies that purport to show the connection between PAH and mate are a perfect example of very BAD, myopic science.
MORE INFO
The History And Origins Of Yerba Mate
Yerba Mate And Its Accidental History