The Agave angustifolia is a plant that belongs to the genus Agave. It is popularly known as Maguey and belongs to the Agavaceae family. Within the plant kingdom it is part of the group of monocots. It is considered to be native to Mexico, where it has been domesticated given its economic importance as a source of fiber, steroids, spiritual drinks, and other products.
This species of maguey is monocarpic perianal, since it produces flowers only once. This occurs towards the end of its life cycle, approximately 20 years, after which it dies. Throughout their entire life cycle, plants basically propagate through their rhizomes, whose apical meristem emerges at a distance from the mother plant, giving rise to new individuals.
Agave angustifolia. Source: Wikimedia commons
The flowers of A. angustifolia develop at the tips of long inflorescences that can be 3 to 8 meters high. After flowering, the bulbs originate from buds under bracteoles in the inflorescence.
characteristics
A. angustifolia plants are small, up to 90 cm high, without considering the inflorescence. The leaves on the other hand are long and narrow, thus deriving the epithet in its scientific name (angustifolia, which means narrow).
Likewise, the leaves are sessile, lanceolate, succulent, grayish-green with a white margin, and grow in the shape of a rosette with a diameter of 90-120 cm. The leaves have thorns on the margins as well as on the tips, so their handling requires some caution.
Like other Agave species, A. angustifolia is characterized by having a long biological cycle, since it usually takes approximately 6 to 8 years to produce fruits with seeds.
The flowers, on the other hand, are yellowish-green, 5 cm in diameter, located at the end of the inflorescence. The inflorescences are spiky, and are formed in the center of the rosette of the leaves. The fruit, for its part, is a dehiscent capsule with three wings.
Habitat and distribution
Agave angustifolia is a terrestrial plant that grows wild from northern Mexico to Central America, in savanna-type ecosystems, thorn forests and low deciduous forests, quercus-pinus forests, quercus, deciduous tropical forest and felled secondary vegetation.
It is a plant native to North America and is grown mainly in Mexico, specifically in the state of Sonora, for the production of the typical tequila-type drink, known as bacanora.
In sonora, the maguey grows wild in most of the western portion of the Sierra Madre, distributing randomly or in isolation.
This species is mainly distributed in arid environments, and its ecological importance lies in the range of animal and plant species with which it establishes associations and in its soil retention capacity.
This last characteristic, in addition to its ability to grow in extreme environments (high temperatures), have made this plant an ideal candidate to be used in agroecological practices for soil restoration.
Reproduction
The life cycle of A. angustifolia ends with its flowering. The flowers open from the bottom up. Each flower, when it opens, first functions as a male and after a few days, as a female.
This mechanism helps cross-pollination with other plants, since this species cannot self-pollinate, because the flowers reject pollen from the same plant because it is self-incompatible.
According to this, these plants require pollinators such as bats or insects, in order to promote the variability of the species.
After the pollination process, the formation of seeds follows the process of fertilization of the ovules. Thus, all the seeds of a plant are daughters of the same mother but they can be of different parents.
Asexually, the maguey can reproduce through bulbils, which are clones produced asexually and genetically identical to the mother plant.
Likewise, these plants can reproduce vegetatively through suckers, which emerge from the ground, due to the activity of the rhizomes. The suckers are clones identical to the parent plant.
Culture
For centuries Agave angustifolia has been used in Sonora, Mexico to make the alcoholic beverage known as bacanora. From 1915 to 1991 the production of this drink was restricted, so its production was basically clandestine, until the repeal of the dry law in 1992.
In 2000, the bacanora acquired the designation of origin for 35 municipalities in the state of Sonora, with the main objective of protecting local producers and ensuring quality based on the region.
Agave angustifolia marginata. Photo taken in Kourou, French Guiana (Amazonia) by Marialadouce in October 2005. From Wikimedia Commons
The problem of the cultivation of A. angustifolia lies in the non-viability in the establishment of a crop, so the raw material in the production of bacanora is obtained from wild plantations. Other findings are worrying since it has been very difficult to get this plant, due to the ecological deterioration of the territories.
Biotechnological tools such as in vitro cultures have been applied to this species of agave for its micropropagation. However, the establishment of this plant in the field has been an arduous task. For this reason, producers have to consider the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the soil before planting it.
Nutritional properties
Nutritionally, A. angustifolia provides nutrients through mezcal, which is a regional alcoholic beverage obtained by distillation and rectification of musts prepared directly with the sugars extracted from the mature heads of the agaves, previously cooked and subjected to alcoholic fermentation.
Bagasse, which is a residual fiber waste, is obtained after the mezcal production process. Bagasse is also used for food, as it has sugars that are used in Mexican cuisine.
The bagasse in turn can contain considerable amounts of crude proteins, as well as cellulose and lignin fibers. Similarly, it contains significant amounts of macrominerals such as calcium, phosphorus and potassium and macro nutrients such as iron, zinc and copper. These are used for animal feed, mainly cattle.
References
- Morales, A., Sánchez, FL, Robert, M., Esqueda, M., Gardea, A., 2006. Genetic Variability in Agave angustifolia Haw. from the Sierra Sonorense, Mexico, Determined with AFLP Markers. Fitotecnia Mexicana Magazine, 29 (1): 1-8
- Esqueda, M., Coronado, ML, Gutiérrez, AH, Fragoso, T., Agave angustifolia Haw. Techniques for the transplantation of vitroplants to range conditions. Sonora State University
- Cervera, JC, Leirana, JL, Navarro, JA, 2018. Environmental factors related to the cover of Agave angustifolia (Asparagaceae) in the coastal scrub of Yucatán, Mexico. Acta Botánica Mexicana, 124: 75-84
- Parra, LA, del Villar, P., Prieto, A., 2010. Extraction of agave fibers to make paper and crafts. Acta Universitaria, 20 (3): 77-83
- Sánchez, FL, Moreno, S., Esqueda, M., Barraza, A., Robert, ML, 2009. Genetic variability of wild Agave angustifolia populations based on AFLP: A basic study for conservation. Journal of Arid Environments, 73: 611–616