Agave Nectar is a sweet and versatile vegetable high fructose sweetener ingredient that makes a great base for blended mixed fruit and vegetable juices, or as a high brix solids sweetener in dairy, confections or baked goods. Enhance your products vegetable content for 5 A DAY fruit and vegetable claims using Agave Syrup( nectar).

Agave is produced in Mexico from several species of agave, including the Blue Agave (Agave tequilana), Salmiana Agave (Agave salmiana), Green Agave, Grey Agave, Thorny Agave, and Rainbow Agave. Agave nectar is sweeter than honey, though less viscous and with less flavor. More importantly, Agave Syrup, which about 90% fructose, as a very low glycemic index sweetener, which is important for diabetics and weight loss management.

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 not, however, closely related to the genus Aloe). The name "century plant" refers to the long time the plant takes to flower, although the number of years before flowering occurs depends on the vigor of the individual, 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 for its handsome appearance; in the variegated forms, the leaf has a white or yellow marginal or central stripe from base to apex.

To produce agave nectar from the Agave tequiliana plant, juice is expressed from the core of the agave, called the piña. The juice is filtered, then heated to hydrolyze polysaccharides into simple sugars. The main polysaccharide is called inulin or fructosan and comprises mostly fructose units. The filtered, hydrolyzed juice is concentrated to a syrupy liquid, slightly thinner than honey, from light- to dark-amber depending on the degree of processing

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