Many Uses of Agave

Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies . Some species are known by the name century plant. In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the subfamily Agavoideae of the broadly circumscribed family Asparagaceae. Some authors prefer to place it in the segregate family Agavaceae. Traditionally, it was circumscribed to be composed of about 166 species, but it is now usually understood to have about 208 species. Chiefly Mexican, agaves are also native to the southern and western United States and central and tropical South America. They are succulents with a large rosette of thick, fleshy leaves, each ending generally in a sharp point and with a spiny margin; the stout stem is usually short, the leaves apparently springing from the root. Along with plants from the related genus Yucca, various Agave species are popular ornamental plants. Each rosette is monocarpic and grows slowly to flower only once. During flowering, a tall stem or "mast" grows from the center of the leaf rosette and bears a large number of short, tubular flowers. After development of fruit, the original plant dies, but suckers are frequently produced from the base of the stem, which become new plants. It is a common misconception that agaves are cacti. They are not related to cacti, nor are they closely related to Aloe whose leaves are similar in appearance. Agave species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species, including Batrachedra striolata, which has been recorded on A. shawi In the Cronquist system and others, Agave was placed in the family Liliaceae, but phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences later showed it did not belong there.[6] In the APG II system, Agave was placed in the family Agavaceae. When this system was superseded by the APG III system in 2009, the Agavaceae were subsumed into the expanded family Asparagaceae, and Agave was treated as one of 18 genera in the subfamily Agavoideae Agave had long been treated as a genus of about 166 species, but this concept of Agave is now known to be paraphyletic over the genera Manfreda, Polianthes, and Prochnyanthes. These genera are now combined with Agave as Agave sensu lato, which contains about 208 species. In some of the older classifications, Agave was divided into two subgenera, Agave and Littaea, based on the form of the inflorescence. These two subgenera are probably not monophyletic. Agaves have long presented special difficulties for taxonomy; variations within a species may be considerable, and a number of named species are of unknown origin and may just be variants of original wild species. Spanish and Portuguese explorers probably brought agave plants back to Europe, but the plants became popular in Europe during the 19th century, when many types were imported by collectors. Some have been continuously propagated by offset

since then, and do not consistently resemble any species known in the wild, although this may simply be due to the differences in growing conditions in Europe The most commonly grown species include Agave americana, Agave angustifolia, Agave tequilana, Agave attenuata, Agave parviflora,Agave murpheyi, Agave vilmoriniana, Agave palmeri, Agave parryi andAgave victoriae-reginae inflorescence. Agave americana One of the most familiar species is Agave americana, a native of tropical America. Common names include century plant, maguey (in Mexico), or American aloe (it is e.not, however, closely related to the genus Aloe). The name "century plant" refers to the long time the plant takes to flower. The number of years before flowering occurs depends on the vigor of the individual plant, the richness of the soil, and the climate; during these years the plant is storing in its fleshy leaves the nourishment required for the effort of flowering. Agave americana, century plant, was introduced into Europe about the middle of the 16th century, and is now widely cultivated as an ornamental; in the variegated forms, the leaf has a white or yellow marginal or central stripe. As the leaves unfold from the center of the rosette, the impression of the marginal spines is conspicuous on the still erect younger leaves. The plants require protection from frost. They mature very slowly and die after flowering, but are easily propagated by the offsets from the base of the stem. Blue A. americana occurs in abundance in the Karoo, and arid highland regions of South Africa. Introduced by the British settlers in 1820, the plant was originally cultivated and used as emergency feed for livestock. Today it is used mainly for the production of syrup and sugar. The ethnobotany of the agave was eloquently described by William H. Prescott in 1843: But the miracle of nature was the great Mexican aloe, or maguey, whose clustering pyramids of flowers, towering above their dark coronals of leaves, were seen sprinkled over many a broad acre of the table-land. As we have already noticed its bruised leaves afforded a paste from which paper was manufactured, its juice was fermented into an intoxicating beverage, pulque, of which the natives, to this day, are extremely fond; its leaves further supplied an impenetrable thatch for the more humble dwellings; thread, of which coarse stuffs were made, and strong cords, were drawn from its tough and twisted fibers; pins and needles were made from the thorns at the extremity of its leaves; and the root, when properly cooked, was converted into a palatable and nutritious food. The agave, in short, was meat, drink, clothing, and writing materials for the Aztec! Surely, never did Nature enclose in so compact a form so many of the elements of human comfort and civilization! There are four major parts of the agave that are edible: the flowers, the leaves, the stalks or basal rosettes, and the sap (in Spanish: aguamiel, meaning "honey water"). Each agave plant will produce several pounds of edible flowers during its final season. The stalks, which are ready during the summer, before the blossom, weigh several pounds each. Roasted, they are sweet and can be chewed to extract the

aguamiel, like sugarcane. When dried out, the stalks can be used to make didgeridoos. The leaves may be collected in winter and spring, when the plants are rich in sap, for eating. The leaves of several species also yield fiber: for instance, Agave rigida var. sisalana, sisal hemp, Agave decipiens, false sisal hemp.Agave americana is the source of pita fiber, and is used as a fiber plant in Mexico, the West Indies and southern Europe. During the development of the inflorescence, sap rushes to the base of the 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. In 2001, the Mexican Government and European Union agreed upon the classification of tequila and its categories. All 100% blue agave tequila must be made from the Weber blue agave plant, to rigorous specifications and only in certain Mexican states. When dried and cut in slices, the flowering stem forms natural razor strops, and the expressed juice of the leaves will lather in water like soap. The natives of Mexico used the agave to make pens, nails, and needles, as well as string to sew and make weavings. Leaf tea or tincture taken orally is used to treat constipation and excess gas. It is also used as a diuretic. Root tea or tincture is taken orally to treat arthritic joints. Several agave species are also considered to have potential as effective bioenergy crops. Agave's ability to grow in naturally water-limited environments could help to reduce the food vs fuel trade-off. The agave, especially Agave murpheyi, was a major food source for the prehistoric indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. The Hohokam of southern Arizona cultivated large areas of agave The Navajo similarly found many uses for the agave plant. A beverage is squeezed from the baked fibers, and the heads can be baked or boiled, pounded into flat sheets, sun dried, and stored for future use. The baked, dried heads are also boiled and made into an edible paste, eaten whole, or made into soup. The leaves are eaten boiled, and the young, tender flowering stalks and shoots are roasted and eaten as well. The fibers are used to make rope, the leaves are used to line baking pits, and the sharp pointed leaf tips are used to make basketry awls.

Biofuel from Tequila By-products - Forbes - John Farrell, Contributor

7/29/2011 @ 10:55AM

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfarrell/2011/07/29/biofuel-from-tequila-byproducts/2/

Comments
Excellent article. Agave(Americana),Sisal Agave is a multiple use plant which has 10% fermentable sugars and rich in cellulose. The fibre is used in rope making and also for weaving clothes in Philippines under the trade name DIP-DRY. In Brazil a paper factory runs on sisal as input. A Steroid HECOGENIN is extracted from this plant leaves. Since on putrification,it produces methane gas, it can be cut and used as input in biogas plants. Also in Kenya and Lesotho dried pieces of Agave are mixed with concrete since it has fibres which act as binding. Here is an excellent analysis on Agave as a biofuel: Agave shows potential as biofuel feedstock, Checkbiotech, By Anna Austin, February 11, 2010: Mounting interest in agave as a biofuel feedstock could jump-start the Mexican biofuels industry, according to agave expert Arturo Valez Jimenez. Agave thrives in Mexico and is traditionally used to produce liquors such as tequila. It has a rosette of thick fleshy leaves, each of which usually end in a sharp point with a spiny margin. Commonly mistaken for cacti, the agave plant is actually closely related to the lily and amaryllis families. The plants use water and soil more efficiently than any other plant or tree in the world, Arturo said. This is a scientific factthey dont require watering or fertilizing and they can absorb carbon dioxide during the night, he said. The plants annually produce up

to 500 metric tons of biomass per hectare, he added. Agave fibers contain 65 percent to 78 percent cellulose, according to Jimenez. With new technology, it is possible to breakdown over 90 percent of the cellulose and hemicellulose structures, which will increase ethanol and other liquid biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass drastically, he said. Mascoma is assessing such technology. Another plant of great use is OPUNTIA for biogas production. The cultivation of nopal((OPUNTIA FICUS-INDICA), a type of cactus, is one of the most important in Mexico. According to Rodrigo Morales, Chilean engineer, Wayland biomass, installed on Mexican soil, allows you to generate inexhaustible clean energy. Through the production of biogas, it can serve as a raw material more efficiently, by example and by comparison with jatropha. Wayland Morales, head of Elqui Global Energy argues that an acre of cactus produces 43 200 m3 of biogas or the equivalent in energy terms to 25,000 liters of diesel. With the same land planted with jatropha, he says, it will produce 3,000 liters of biodiesel. Another of the peculiarities of the nopal is biogas which is the same molecule of natural gas, but its production does not require machines or devices of high complexity. Also, unlike natural gas, contains primarily methane (75%), carbon dioxide (24%) and other minor gases (1%), so it has advantages from the technical point of view since it

has the same capacity heat but is cleaner, he says, and as sum datum its calorific value is 7,000 kcal/m3.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
5 Aug 2011

Renewable Energy World

India's Prime Minister Vows to Double Renewable Energy Capacity By Jeff Postelwait, Associate Editor, Electric Light & Power April 18, 2013

India will seek to double the amount of renewable energy it can generate to 55 GW in the next four years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in his inaugural address. "It is proposed to double the renewable energy capacity in our country from 25,000 MW in 2012 to 55,000 MW by the year 2017. This would include exploiting nonconventional energy sources such as solar, wind power and energy from biomass," Singh said. These initiatives were announced as part of the prime minister's presentation of India's 12th Five Year Plan. Developed countries are the ones best poised to help meet the challenge of climate change, he said, adding that India has set a goal of cutting its energy use by 20 to 25 percent by 2020 by increasing its energy efficiency. Another measure the prime minister called for is an international research and development center for solar energy. This National Institute of Solar Energy could be operational by 2015, he said. Research into solar thermal and solar photovoltaic would be part of this initiative. The price of producing solar power was cut in half over the past two years, he said, going on to acknowledge that fossil-fired power generation, such as coal power, is still less expensive. The difference, he said could be made up for with subsidies. About 87.5 percent of India's electricity is generated from non-renewable sources. Coal constitutes 57 percent of India's installed capacity. In December 2011, over 300 million Indian citizens had no access to electricity most of these residents are from rural areas. This article was originally published on Electric Light & Power and was republished with permission.

Comment
Anumakonda April 20, 2013 We,People involved in the Renewable Energy research and promotion welcome your statement, India will seek to double the amount of renewable energy it can generate to 55 GW in the next four years. Here is an action plan for India on Renewables: Biofuel and Biogas for Power Generation: Agave is a care free growth plant which can be grown in millions of hectares of waste land and which produces Biofuel. Already Mexico is using it. Another Care free growth plant is Opuntia which generates Biogas. Biogas can be input to generate power through Biogas Generators. Biogas generators of MW size are available from China. Yet another option is Water Hyacinth for biogas. Water Hyacinth along with animal dung can produce biogas on a large scale and then power. In Kolleru lake in Godavari and Krishna Delta in Andhra Pradesh it is available in 308 Sq. Km for nearly 8 months in a year. Crassulacean acid metabolism, also known as CAM photosynthesis, is a carbon fixationpathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide (CO2). The CO2 is

stored as the four-carbon acidmalate, and then used during photosynthesis during the day. The pre-collected CO2 is concentrated around the enzyme RuBisCO, increasing photosynthetic efficiency. Agave and Opuntia are the best CAM Plants. Researchers find that the agave plant will serve as a biofuel crop to produce ethanol. "Agave has a huge advantage, as it can grow in marginal or desert land, not on arable land," and therefore would not displace food crops, says Oliver Inderwildi, at the University of Oxford.The majority of ethanol produced in the world is still derived from food crops such as corn and sugarcane. Speculators have argued for years now that using such crops for fuel can drive up the price of food. Agave, however, can grow on hot dry land with a highyield and low environmental impact. The researchers proposing the plants use have modeled a facility in Jalisco, Mexico, which converts the high sugar content of the plant into ethanol. The research, published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, provides the first ever life-cycle analysis of the energy and greenhouse gas balance of producing ethanol with agave. Each megajoule of energy produced from the agave-to-ethanol process resulted in a net emission of 35 grams of carbon dioxide, far below the 85g/MJ estimated for corn ethanol production. Burning gasoline produces roughly 100g/MJ. "The characteristics of the agave suit it well to bioenergy production, but also reveal its potential as a crop that is adaptable to future climate change, adds University of Oxford plant scientist Andrew Smith. In a world where

arable land and water resources are increasingly scarce, these are key attributes in the food versus fuel argument, which is likely to intensify given the expected large-scale growth in biofuel production." Here is an excellent analysis on Agave as a biofuel: Agave shows potential as biofuel feedstock, Checkbiotech, By Anna Austin, February 11, 2010: "Mounting interest in agave as a biofuel feedstock could jump-start the Mexican biofuels industry, according to agave expert Arturo Valez Jimenez. Agave thrives in Mexico and is traditionally used to produce liquors such as tequila. It has a rosette of thick fleshy leaves, each of which usually end in a sharp point with a spiny margin. Commonly mistaken for cacti, the agave plant is actually closely related to the lily and amaryllis families. The plants use water and soil more efficiently than any other plant or tree in the world, Arturo said. "This is a scientific factthey don't require watering or fertilizing and they can absorb carbon dioxide during the night," he said. The plants annually produce up to 500 metric tons of biomass per hectare, he added. Agave fibers contain 65 percent to 78 percent cellulose, according to Jimenez. "With new technology, it is possible to breakdown over 90 percent of the cellulose and hemicellulose structures, which will increase ethanol and other liquid biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass drastically," he said. Agave Competitive Advantages:

Thrives on dry land/marginal land. Most efficient use of soil, water and light. Massive production. Year-around harvesting. Very high yields with very low or no inputs Very high quality biomass and sugars Very low cost of production. Not a commodity, so prices are not volatile Very versatile: biofuels, bioproducts, chemicals World-wide geographical distribution Enhanced varieties are ready There is wasteland in our country to the extent of crores of acres. Agro Economic Zones(AEZ) on the lines of SEZ can be set up. Unemployed and educated youth can be given training in Agricultural operations and each allotted 10 acres. 10 such people can form a Co-operative and can undertake fast growing trees like Agave,Opuntia,Jatropha etc. This way the waste land can be brought under cultivation besides solving unemployment problem to some extent. What is needed in an agrarian country like ours is AGRO INDUSTRIES to utilise local resources and resourcefulness as advocated by Mahatma Gandhiji. Wind Energy Though India occupies 5th position in Wind in the world,we need to adopt innovation methods to harness the Wind Energy. Wind farm co-operatives can be started in India on the

lines of those in Denmark.. A Wind Fund can be created and the investments in it by Individual Income Tax payers can be exempted under Section 80 C. This way there will be funds available for large scale wind farms besides large participation of people in the Wind Farms. Offshore wind farms will be future energy option to supplement conventional power. With extensive research on large size wind turbines and installation techniques of offshore wind turbines, the cost of power generation through offshore wind farms is expected to come down to be competitive with conventional power. USA, China, South Korea, Taiwan, France and Japan have ambitious plans to go in for offshore wind farms on a massive scale. It is hoped MNRE will initiate at least a Pilot project of Offshore Wind Farm in India. All modern techniques of wind assessment have to be undertaken which will identify prospective locations to set up offshore wind farms in the country. Wind masts to obtain wind data at higher hub heights(about 75 m) need to be carried out at as many locations as possible besides resource measurement using sodar and lidar. Solar PV A lot of push is given to Solar PV in India under Jawaharlal Solar Mission. The Present Solar Cell efficiency is low(about 15%) compared to Wind, Micro/mini hydel and Biomass. Tremendous research on improving the efficiency of solar cell is in the offing. It is expected in about couple of years the efficient solar cells enter the market. Why not we go slow in solar projects till more

efficient ones are in the market so that the investment in solar projects will yield better results. Improved solar cookers, solar driers, solar water heating systems, wind battery chargers, micro-hydro systems etc. need to be promoted on a war footing to bring the benefits of Renewable energy to the masses. Wind farm co-operatives can be started in India. Dr.Manmohan Singhji,kindly consider the above concrete Renewable Energy Project proposals to benefit the country in general and rural India in particular. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India Renewable Energy Expert E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com
There are vast areas of waste lnd available in the country: http://www.icar.org.in/files/Degraded-and-Wastelands.pdf According to Wasteland Atlas of India -2005 :NRSA,the waste lands in India is around 552692.26 Sq. Km in the Total geographical area of India: 3287263 Sq. Km. In Andhra Pradesh the wasteland is around 45267.15 Sq. Km. Cant we bring this and under cultivation? Agave and Opuntia can be grown in these waste lands and biofuel and biogas units can be set up in rural areas. As one economist put it, IT IS NOT THE RESOURCES BUT RESOURCEFULNESS THAT EXPLANS WHY PEOPLE PERISH IN THE MIDT OF PLENTY.

Beautiful Bags from Agave -Kenya

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
Some of the Text: wikipedia Photos: Internet E-mail: anumakonda.jgadeesh@gmail.com