Caffeine in mate.

Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 22:11:06 MDT
Sender: HERB.TREARNPC.EGE.EDU.TR
From: Michael Moore <hrbmoore.RT66.COM>
Subject: Re: coffee...

>Yerba Mate does not have caffeine.

Simply not true...usda database (http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke)lists, as constituents, for Ilex paraguayensis (Yerba Mate):

Harborne and Baxter's "Phytochemical Dictionary" (1993) lists Yerba Mate as one of the primary caffeine plants.

The Merck index of Chemicals and Drugs lists Mate, Yerba Mate or Ilex paraguayensis as being a caffeine-bearing plant.

In fact...EVERY RESOURCE I HAVE lists Mate as a caffeine-containing plant. 20-40 million folks around the world drink Mate daily BECAUSE they like it (green or roasted), it is tasty, and it gives them a CAFFEINE lift in the morning. I never ran across anyone from South America that drank Mate that had anything else to say about it except "Nothing makes one as happy as a bomba, a gourd, some Mate and lots of hot water...stay up all night, party much", or some gentler variant thereof.

Not to be confrontational, I would still seriously ask why you feel it is NOT a caffeine plant. It is clearly recognized as such, but I gather you have your own reasons to consider it to be free from caffeine.

Please explain.

Michael Moore (hrbmoore.rt66.com)
http://www.rt66.com/hrbmoore/HOMEPAGE/HomePage.html