Maté

Ilex paraguariensis

Mate Paraguay Tea Yerba Parts used Uses Habitat and cultivation Constituents

Mate - mention a holly tree to a North American or European, and you will probably conjure up visions of Christmas, with glistening green leaves and pretty red berries. But the holly tree familiar to millions of South Americans is quite different, both in appearance and in function. It is the mate, which thrives in rugged, mountainous areas of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, and it furnishes the popular tea like beverage also called mate.

While the hardy English holly tree can reach a height of 70 feet or so, its South American relative grows only about 20 feet tall. The mate's oval to oblong leaves, longer and much lighter in color than those of the English holly, also lack the glossy sheen and the prickly spines that are the northern tree's trademarks.

In Argentina and Paraguay, where mate is widely cultivated, commercial growers set the harvested leaves out to dry on special platforms over small wood fires; the leaves must dry immediately or they will quickly ferment and turn black. After 24 to 36 hours, the brittle remains are reduced to coarse powder, which is put into sacks and stored for an aging period of a year or more. Finally, the product is shipped all over South America to be made into the tealike drink that the Indians enjoyed long before Europeans reached the continent.

Like those ancient peoples, modern South Americans prize the brew as a tonic and stimulant. The mate leaves are rich in caffeine, and also contain neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acids and theobromine catechols. Together these substances give mate its tonic properties and make it a reviving and refreshing beverage with the same function that coffee or tea has in North America and Europe.

PARTS USED

Leaves.

USES

Mate is a traditional South American tea that increases short-term physical and mental energy levels. Mate is taken as a fortifying beverage in much the same way as tea is consumed throughout Asia and Europe. Mate has properties similar to those of tea and coffee. Mate stimulates the nervous system, and is mildly analgesic and diuretic. As a medicinal herb, mate is used to treat headaches, migraine, neuralgic and rheumatic pain, fatigue, and mild depression. Mate has also been used in the treatment of diabetes.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Mate grows wild in northern Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern Brazil, and is widely cultivated in Argentina, Spain, and Portugal. The leaves, picked when the berries are ripe, are heated over a wood fire, ground, and then stored in sacks for a year before being sold.

CONSTITUENTS

Mate contains xanthine derivatives, including about 1.5% caffeine, about 0.2% theobromine, theophylline, and up to 16% tannins. The high tannin content means that mate should not be consumed with meals, since tannins impair the absorption of nutrients.