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Agave Bioindustries: History and Future of a Strategic Bioresource

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Agave Bioindustries: History and Future of a Strategic Bioresource Gustavo Viniegra G. Energy: Science, technology and management Energy: Science, Technology and Management. Vol. 1, No. 1 Date of publication: January, 2021. Date of reception: November, 23, 2020, date of acceptation December, 10, 2020. Digital Object Identifier XX.XXXX/XXXX INVITATION PAPER Agave bioindustries: history and future of a strategic bioresource Gustavo Viniegra-González Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Department of Biotechnology, Iztapalapa, CDMX, 09495, Mexico Corresponding autor: [email protected]) This work was supported in part by academic fellowships from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Mex.) ABSTRACT. In this review it is proposed that Agave sp. should be considered a strategic bioresource to support future production of biomaterials with special attention to the lactic acid platform but before doing that it is quite urgent to rescue and support the traditional system of intercalated cultures of maize, weeds and Agave, called Metepantle, because it is very resilient toward climatic and economic changes and provides the basis for the subsistence of thousands of peasants living in the Central Highlands of Mexico. The analysis of three large Agave bio-industries for pulque (fermented Agave sap from A. salmiana), henequen (fibers from A. sisalana) and tequila (spirits from A. tequilana) shows that large monoculture systems are not socially, economic or ecological as sustainable as Metepantle. Hence it is concluded that agroforestry with Metepantle is a sustainable system to be developed for future bio-industries. KEY WORDS: Agave, bio-industries, Metepantle, sustainable, bio-resources I. INTRODUCTION biological carrying capacity, social justice and cultural continuity”. The Brundtland Report (1987) resumed Agave plantations are being considered as a platform for sustainable development in three major areas: a) Planet, future bio-industries because they can maintain high biomass social activities should be in long-term equilibrium with productivity with low water requirements and seem to be a natural regeneration of resources. b) Profit, cost-effective, good crop alternative for bio-industries adapted to climate where economic activities produce financial benefits, c) change.[1] This work is a review of the perspective of Agave People, equitable, where such financial benefits should be utilization as an ancient bio-resource to produce goods such widely distributed in a manner that increases human welfare as traditional beverages, fiber and spirits, with the possibility with open access to health and education services and are to build new bio-industries. This analysis is made with the free from intergeneration debts. purpose to learn from the limitations of the past to design new sustainable alternatives for the future. This review analyzes the history of Mexican Agave agribusiness in terms of their lack of sustainability in at least A. The criteria for long-term sustainability one of the three factors proposed by the cited Brundtland Report. In addition, it proposes a sustainable scenario for According to United Nations Brundtland Report, sustainable Agave bio-industries, based in the use of intercalated culture development “meets the needs of the present without of Agave with subsistence crops. Feasibility analysis is made compromising the ability of future generations to meet their in technical, social and policy grounds. own needs”[2] Kuhmonen[3] indicated “human needs should be met within the bounds of economic profitability, B. Historical background of Agave utilization 12 Gustavo Viniegra G. Energy: Science, technology and management Plants used in agriculture can be classified according to their al.[17] have stressed the positive impact of co-cultivation of photosynthetic metabolism, C3 plants use 3- Agave and maize in the prevention of famine during drought phosphogylycerate as key intermediate, C4 plants use episodes affecting pre-Hispanic cultures as commented by oxaloacetate as key intermediate and CAM plants use malic Freeman et al[18]. Correa-Ascencio et al.[19] found small acid as a storage of CO2. Agave genus is indigenous to amounts of hopanoids in potsherds from the Teotihuacan Mexico and was spread to southwestern United States, settlement (500 AD) as an indication of the presence of Central America and Northern parts of South America. The Zymomonas mobilis, which is known to be part of pulque Agave genus in lato sensu, comprises more than 200 species microbiota. This finding coincides with the Teotihuacan with an evolutionary story less than 10 million years old.[4] paintings showing Agave plants and scenes that can be taken During such evolution, Agave species were adapted to many as pulque consumption. Aztec traditions include the goddess niches of dry lands, sharing the physiological features of Mayahuel related to pulque production and consumption. An CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism)[5] which allows them account of those traditions was reviewed by Escalante et to resist long periods of drought.[6] In general, CAM plants al.[20] Such evidence supports the importance of Agave have much higher Water Use Efficiency than C3 and C4 cultures, combined with maize, as an essential part of pre- plants used in conventional agriculture[7] and have been Hispanic agriculture, in Middle America. found with high biomass productivity in semi-desert regions.[8] Therefore, mixed cultures of perennial Agave plants with annual subsistence crops, such as, maize, beans and squash, Table 1 shows some examples of each kind of plants and were developed in pre-Hispanic agriculture[21]. still subsist compares land productivity and water use efficiency between under the Nahuatl name of Metepantle (metl = Agave, and them as compiled by Nobel [7]. From such data, it can be pantli = wall) and deserve special consideration because, 63 concluded that: Biomass productivity of CAM plants such % of Mexican territory has some degree of aridity and is as Agave sp. and Opuntia sp. can be higher than 20 inhabited by 41% of the national population.[22] After the mg/(ha*year), which are similar to C3 and C4 plants. But Spanish conquest, large states (haciendas) with monoculture CAM plants are four or five times more efficient on the use systems were developed following the pattern of Iberic of water than C3 and C4 plants. latifundia. They were the basis for 19th century Agave plantations in Central Highlands to produce a beverage TABLE 1. Comparison of the productivity of different kinds called pulque (fermented Agave sap). In Yucatan peninsula, of plants according to their metabolism. Agave plantations were dedicated to fiber production (henequen), and in western Mexico, Agave haciendas were Metabolism KJ/CO2 CO2/H20 Mg (ha-1year-1) dedicated to the production of spirits such as tequila. Thus, C3 867 0.5 – 1.5 30 - 45 throughout Mexican history, two different approaches were C4 665 1.0 – 2.0 32 - 67 developed, the small scale traditional Metepantle and, the large-scale Agave plantation, to be analyzed in subsequent CAM 740 4.0 – 10.0 22 - 36 sections of this paper. Data from: Nobel.[7] Examples of plants of each kind of metabolism. C3: Cereals, soybeans, tubers (potato, cassava), pine tree. C4: Maize, sugarcane, sorghum, sweet sorghum, pastures. CAM: Agave, Bromeliacea (i.e., pineapple), Cacti (Opuntia). II. SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS OF AGAVE AGROBUSINESS IN MEXICO The use of Agave fibers has been documented in archeological places dated before 5,000 A.C.[9] Early human As mentioned above, large scale Agave industries have been a populations of southwestern United States and northern major part of Mexican history during the last two centuries. Mexico used Agave as an alternative source of nutritional energy to survive famine during drought periods[10], because A. Pulque production they learned how to cook Agave leaves and stems in oven pits[11], used to hydrolyze the non-digestible carbohydrates Typical Agave plantations of the Central Highlands of Mexico called fructans and produce fructose as edible sugar.[12] (States of Hidalgo, Mexico, Puebla and Tlaxcala) use various Trombold and Israde-Alcantara[13, 14] found evidence on the species and subspecies of A. salmiana (Agave pulquero) agricultural production of Agave and Opuntia species which are quite different from A. tequilana, A. angustifolia, A. together with maize and beans in a settlement of La Quemada sisalaiana or A. lechuguilla, used for spirit or fiber production. (northern Mexico) that flourished more than one thousand The leaves of Agave “pulquero” are longer (1.5 to 3.4 m) and years ago. Fish & Fish[15] have described the evidence of the thicker (10 cm to 40 cm) as compared to the shorter, thinner joint use of maize and cooked Agave in Hohokam culture and slender leaves of the other Agave species. After 6 or 10 (100 AD to 1,600 AD). Hodgson[16] analyzed the cultural years of maturation, A. salmiana plants weigh nearly one importance of Agave in the Sonoran Desert and Anderies et 13 Gustavo Viniegra G. Energy: Science, technology and management metric ton (Mg = Mega gram). Pulque production is made by In both cases, successive Federal Administrations tried to cutting the incipient floral mast (quiote) and carving a hole in force rich landowners to share their income with poor the center of the rosette where 1 or 2 liters of sap are secreted peasants. In both cases the Mexican government failed to daily for a period of 100 to 200 days. This sap is called promote effective R&D to increase and diversify Agave aguamiel and contains around 60g to 100g per liter, of derivatives. Presently, Mexican malt industry is affected by fermentable sugars[23] to be transformed by fermentation in similar social problems than pulque industry.[37] Barley prices equal molar amounts of lactic acid and ethanol.[24] Such mixed in USA and Canada are lower than farmgate prices in Mexico fermentation involves wild yeast, Zymomonas mobilis and and this price disparity is a source of discontent and peasant lactic acid bacteria which have been analyzed by molecular revolt.[38] Therefore, even though traditional pulque industry techniques.
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