Agave Beverage with White Wine Flavor Created

A group of scientists from the Mexican National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) , developed a new fermented beverage with six degrees of alcohol made of agave , that presents the flavor and physical characteristics similar to those of white wine.

The specialists from the Professional Unit Interdisciplinary of Engineering , IPN Zacatecas campus, used agave nectar as raw material. The agave nectar can be extracted from the plant for six or eight months, said the Science Professor Sergio Zavala Castillo .

“In Mexico, regarding the fermented beverages elaboration, pulque process is a similar sustainable method” highlighted Zavala Castillo, adviser of the beverage creator, Jesús Michel Hernández .

“However, it is a method that is not technified, except for a few companies that have achieved a marketable product and even exported it” commented Sergio Zavala, in an interview with the Information Agency of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) .

The biotechnology engineer added that in the beginning, the project's objective was to develop a pulque (an alcoholic beverage made from fermented maguey sap) alternative in controlled conditions and to decrease its viscosity as well.

“We achieved to reduce the viscosity of the product, it is lower than the original agave nectar, but it is not pulque and it can be considered a new beverage because a similar one does not exist in the state of the art. It is similar to white table wine,” he said.

“This new fermented beverage has a flavor similar to white wine and cider regarding its acid and fruity flavors. This type of research gives an added value to Mexican plants and offers alternatives to their potential use,” Michel Hernández said.

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