Extraction and characterization of Agave salmiana Otto ex Salm-Dyck fructans [Extracción y caracterización de fructanos de Agave salmiana Otto ex Salm-Dyck]

Fructans are fructose polymers with major applications in the industry of functional food. Even though fructans from Agave angustifolia spp. tequilana are already being industrially produced and are beginning to gain some demand in the USA, for their extraction pineapple or the heart of the maguey (stem and leaf bases) with different stages of ripeness is still used, which affects the quality and results in more expensive production processes. This work describes an alternative method for the extraction of fructans from Agave salmiana stems, resulting in simpler processes and facilitates a natural or organic collection. The absolute and relative yields of the fructan concentrate (FC) refer both to the stem and to the head of the maguey, as well as their quality through the high performance liquid chromatographic analysis (HPLC). The yield of FC (95 %25 DM dry material) from fresh stems was 21 %25 and almost 80 %25 from dry stems. The humidity free FC is comprised of about 80 %25 fructans and the rest by trisaccharides (around 9.5 %25), ashes (5 %25), sucrose (1 %25) and sapogenins (0.85 %25); glucose and fructose quantities were not detectable (< 0.002 %25).

Alternative use of maguey; Maguey mezcalero potosino; Physical ripeness of the maguey plant; Yield and quality of the extract

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