期刊名称：European Journal of Business and Social Sciences
印刷版ISSN：2235-767X
出版年度：2013
卷号：2
期号：4
页码：98-110
出版社：European Society of Business and Social Sciences
摘要：The yerba mate is an evergreen tree from the family of Aquifoliaceae. It usually grows 6-8 meters (19 - 26 ft) but it can reach up to 18 m (59 ft) in height. Its oval leaves are 12 cm (5 inches) long, dark green at the top and lighter green at the bottom, with serrated edges. Yerba mate is in bloom between October and December and has an inflorescence/cluster of small, white flowers. The fruit is red or dark brown, 5-8 mm ( ¼ inch) in diameter and appears between March and June. Each fruit has 4-5 yellow seeds with hard husk. The seeds are scattered by birds. Many seeds which appear to be ripe have no more than a fraction of an embryo which means that the germinating period may be quite long. The yerba mate tree comes from South American countries such as northern Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Commercially it is farmed mainly in Brazil, and to a lesser extent in Argentina and Paraguay. There are two varieties of yerba mate: Ilex paraguariensis var. paraguariensis (the leaves and twigs of this tree are used for yerba mate) and Ilex paraguariensis var. vestita (this tree is densely pubescent and has no commercial use). Both types may be found in some regions of north-eastern Argentina and Brazil. However, in the past 15 years, there was a several-fold increase in the literature studying Ilex paraguariensis properties showing effects such as antioxidant properties in chemical models and ex vivo lipoprotein studies, vasodilating and lipid reduction properties, antimutagenic effects, controversial association with oropharyngeal cancer, anti-glycation effects and weight reduction properties. Lately, promising results from human intervention studies have surfaced and the literature offers several developments on this area. The aim of this review is to provide a concise summary of the research published in the past and future of the yerba-mate market.
关键词：yerba-mate; tea in Brazil; tradicional;medicine; south american; holly-tree
