The agave - poisonous or not?

Content

• The agave - poisonous or not?
• The danger of agaves
• Ingredients and possible effects of the agave
• The use of different types of agave
• Tips

Tequila is made from blue agave

The agave - poisonous or not?

The various types of agave regularly cause uncertainty among home gardeners: While on the one hand the toxicity of the plants is reported, on the other hand, numerous uses of certain agave components for human consumption are known.

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The danger of agaves

Basically, the danger of agave is to relativize: Although different types of agave different ingredients in and on the leaves have, but usually the agave is classified as a low-toxic plant. However, the danger lurks in the agave quite elsewhere. The sharp spines on the tips and sometimes on the edges of the leaves sometimes cause painful injuries that heal very slowly. The agave is perhaps dangerous only in so far as it can be confused by ignorant gardeners sometimes with the aloe vera.

Ingredients and possible effects of the agave

The weakly poisoned agaves usually contain the following ingredients:

After the import of the agave to Europe parts of the plants in this country were propagated as a natural remedy for certain diseases such as warts or constipation. However, you should refrain from own experiments in this regard, since the concentration of active ingredients in the leaves vary widely and laymen therefore the dosage can not be properly estimated. If the agave juice reaches the skin or even the mucous membranes, it can lead to severe skin irritation and conjunctivitis.

The use of different types of agave

Agave is still a very important economic factor, especially in Mexico. While the so-called sisal agave uses the threads of its leaves to provide the raw material for sisal cords, the juices of the blue agave are used to produce tequila and mezcal. Since agaves also contain a lot of sugar, they are cultivated specifically for the production of the sweetener agave syrup.

Tips

If the sap is repotting or cutting the agave in the garden, you should urgently wash your hands before you meet with your hands in the eyes. In addition, to prevent injuries due to sharp spikes, you can put small pieces of cork on the ends of the leaves.