26-2 |
Traditional beverages of Latin America |
M. SANCHO-MADRIZ, Dept. of Human Nutrition & Food Science, California State Polytechnic Univ., 3801 W. Temple Ave., Pomona, CA 91768 Traditional beverages from Latin America and other regions of the world offer good opportunities in the development of new and exotic beverages. Those beverages are prepared by using both native and non-native crops. In some cases traditional processing techniques involve fermentation. Long before the Spanish were able to produce a beverage using cocoa beans, the Mayas and the Aztecs of Mexico and Central America used cocoa in foods and beverages. Natives of Paraguay consumed Yerba Mate before the Europeans arrived in South America. In the 17th century, Jesuit missionaries expanded the use of Yerba Mate to other parts of the world. The industry based on this beverage is now a $350 million industry that employs more than 400,000 people in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Yerba Mate tea is now consumed in the United States and Europe where products such as carbonated beverages have been produced using extracts. Guaranį is a creeping shrub native to the Brazilian Amazon. Natives use a traditional method of preparation by drying and roasting the seeds and mixing with water to for a paste. Local tribes used Guaranį to prepare foods, drinks and medicines. The Brazilian soft drink industry has produced carbonated beverages using Guaranį for years and now some companies in the U.S. are also producing drinks with Guaranį. Pulque is a Mexican drink made by fermenting the sap of the undeveloped flowering stem of agave. The fermented juice of the fruit of the nopal is consumed as a beer called colonche. Chicha is a fermented beverage made with corn in some Latin American countries. This presentation will address different aspects of some traditional beverages used in Latin America, medicinal uses, commercial products in international markets, processing issues, advantages and disadvantages, and potential new uses for them.
Session 26, Traditional beverages from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and their marketability to the U.S. consumers
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