Sustainable Production of Pulque and Maguey in Mexico: Current Situation and Perspectives
Por:
Valdivieso Solis, Dulce Gabriela, Vargas Escamilla, Carlota Amadea, Mondragon Contreras, Nayeli, Galvan Valle, Gustavo Adolfo, Giles-Gomez, Martha, Bolivar, Francisco, Escalante, Adelfo
Publicada:
2 jul 2021
Resumen:
Pulque is a traditional Mexican fermented, non-distilled alcoholic
beverage produced by fermenting the fresh sap (aguamiel) extracted from
several Agave (maguey) species cultivated for pulque production (mainly
A. salmiana). This beverage was produced and consumed since Pre-Hispanic
times by Mesoamerican civilizations, mainly in the Mexican Central
Plateau, and is one of the essential alcoholic beverages produced and
consumed during several centuries in Mexico. By 2019, annual pulque
production was reported in 171,482 billion liters. Nevertheless,
traditional pulque production faces several significant limitations,
including the disappearance of large agave plantations and the extent of
time required (at least 5 years) to complete the plant maturation for
aguamiel extraction; traditional production practices; and the lack of
an efficient stabilization process of the fermented product resulting in
low shelf life. In opposition, successful examples of sustainable
cultivation of maguey species for aguamiel extraction and the
fermentation process's industrialization resulted in high-quality pulque
production, with international exportation certification. In this
contribution, we present a review of the most relevant aspects of the
history and commercial relevance of pulque, the causes that resulted in
its production debacle during the first half of the twentieth century,
the current situation of its traditional production, and the successful
efforts of industrial production of the beverage. We describe recent
results on the analysis of the physicochemical characteristics of
aguamiel and on the microbiology of the beverage explored by metagenomic
techniques that can be proposed as a baseline to redefine the quality
criteria of the beverage and to define for the first time a
microbiological core to optimize its production. We describe the
relevance of maguey species for aguamiel production as a fundamental
element of agroforestry and the relevance of its sustainable production,
in four sustainable plantation models to maintain a stable plant
population to ensure the continuous extraction of aguamiel and pulque
production. Finally, we describe some successful examples of beverage
industrialization and potential applications of several microorganisms
isolated from aguamiel, pulque, aguamiel concentrates, and the maguey to
produce high-value bioactive products.
Filiaciones:
Valdivieso Solis, Dulce Gabriela:
Univ Ciencias & Artes Chiapas, Inst Ciencias Biol, Dept Biol, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico
Vargas Escamilla, Carlota Amadea:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Fac Quim, Dept Biol, Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico
Mondragon Contreras, Nayeli:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Fac Quim, Dept Biol, Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico
Galvan Valle, Gustavo Adolfo:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Fac Estudios Super Cuautitlan, Cuautitlan, Mexico
Giles-Gomez, Martha:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Fac Quim, Dept Biol, Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico
Bolivar, Francisco:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Inst Biotecnol, Dept Ingn Celular & Biocatalisis, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
Escalante, Adelfo:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Inst Biotecnol, Dept Ingn Celular & Biocatalisis, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
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