Production
To produce agave nectar from the Agave Americana and tequiliana plants, the leaves are cut off the plant after it has aged seven to 14 years. The juice is then extracted from the core of the agave, called the piña. The juice is filtered, then heated to separate the complex components (the polysaccharides) into simple sugars. The main polysaccharide is called inulin or fructosan and is mostly fructose. This filtered juice is then concentrated to a syrupy liquid, slightly thinner than honey. Its color varies from light- to dark-amber, depending on the degree of processing.
Agave salmiana is processed differently than Agave tequiliana. As the plant develops, it starts to grow a stalk called a quiote. The stalk is cut off before it fully grows, creating a hole in the center of the plant that fills with a liquid called aguamiel. The liquid is collected daily. The complex components of this liquid are broken down into fructose and dextrose.
An alternative method used to process the agave juice without heat is described in a United States patent for a process that uses enzymes derived from the mold Aspergillus niger to break down the polyfructose extract into fructose. A. niger fermentation is "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Read more about this topic: Agave Nectar
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