Agave young flower stalk. Agave nectar (also called agave syrup), a sweetener derived from the sap, is used as an alternative to sugar in cooking, and can be added to breakfast cereals as a binding agent. The sap of "A. americana" and other species is used in Mexico and Mesoamerica to produce "pulque", an alcoholic beverage. The flower shoot is cut out and the sap collected and subsequently fermented. By distillation, a spirit called "mezcal" is prepared; one of the best-known forms of mezcal is tequila. When dried and cut in slices, the flowering stem forms natural razor strops, and the
Agave nectar Agave nectar Agave nectar (more accurately, agave syrup) is a sweetener commercially produced from several species of agave, including "Agave tequilana" (blue agave) and "Agave salmiana". Agave syrup contains fructose as a carbohydrate providing sweetening properties. To produce agave syrup from the "Agave americana" and "A. tequilana" plants, the leaves are cut off the plant after it has been growing for seven to fourteen years. The juice is then extracted from the core of the agave, called the "piña". The juice is filtered, then heated to break the complex components (the polysaccharides) into simple sugars. The main polysaccharide is called