Table 2 Use and management forms of Agave potatorum recorded in San Luis Atolotitlán
Plant part | Use | Use form | Percentage of users | Management |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Stem | Mescal production | Whole stems are backed inside an earthen pit, grounded, fermented and distilled | 100 | Extraction of whole individuals from wild populations |
Flower buds | Food | Flowering buds are boiled or roasted, coocked with eggs or hot chilli sauce | 66 | People extract the whole scape, to get the flowering buds |
Floral scape | Roasted over the fire while working in the field | 33 | Extract the young whole floral scape | |
Leaf bases | Food | People ask for the backed leave bases to the mescal producer and eat them as candy | 30 | Leave bases remaining from mescal production |
Medicine | An infusion of cooked agave leaf for lung affections | 10 | ||
Applying a piece of fresh leaf (or roasted) directly to wounded area | 33 | Eventually cutting up one leaf | ||
Floral escape | Fodder | Cattle eat the growing scape | 40 | Cattle eat the early floral scape while it is starting to grow |
Construction | Used in small fences | 16 | Extract the whole floral scape | |
Whole plant | Religious | Agaves are transplanted from the wild to “little mountains” (montecitos) dedicated to the GuadalupeVirgin | 10 | Each year in December small agave individuals are transplanted from wild populations to home gardens |
Uses of Mescal | As medicine | A small glass of mezcal aliviate the stomach-ache, flu symptoms, fever and cold- weat | 30 | (produced from agave stems) |
Ritual | A small glass of mezcal is offered to the death in the “ofrendas de muertos” | 80 |