Yerba mate#Chemical composition and properties

The name given to the plant in the Guaraní language (of the indigenous people who first used mate) is {{lang|gn|kaʼa}}, which has the same meaning as 'herb'.{{Cite book |last=Lemos Barbosa |first=Antônio|author-link=Antônio Lemos Barbosa|url=https://archive.org/details/barbosa_1956/page/n9/mode/2up |title=Curso de Tupi Antigo |publisher=Livraria São José |year=1956 |location=Rio de Janeiro}}{{Cite book |last=de Almeida Navarro |first=Eduardo |title=Dicionário do Tupi Antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil |publisher=Global Editora |year=2013 |isbn=9788526019331 |location=São Paulo}} {{lang|pt|Congonha}}, in Portuguese, a term describing several herb species,{{Cite web |title=Congonha - Arca del Gusto |url=https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/congonha/ |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=Slow Food Foundation |language=en-US}} is derived from the Tupí expression {{Lang|tup|kõ'gõi}}, meaning something like 'what keeps us alive', but is rarely used nowadays.FERREIRA, A. B. H. Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa. Segunda edição. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 1986. p.453 Mate is from the Quechua {{lang|qu|mati}},Real Academia Española. [http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=mate "Mate"]. Retrieved 23 May 2013. a word that means 'container for a drink' and 'infusion of an herb', as well as 'gourd'.[http://aulex.org/qu-es/?busca=mati&idioma=en AULEX, "Online Quechua-Spanish Dictionary"]. Retrieved 23 May 2013. The word mate is used in modern Portuguese and Spanish.

The pronunciation of {{lang|es|yerba mate}} in Spanish is {{IPA|es|ˈɟʝeɾβa ˈmate|}}, with the stress on the first syllable of mate. The word {{lang|es|yerba}} is Spanish for 'herb', a variant spelling of {{Lang|es|hierba}} used throughout Latin America.Real Academia Española. [http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=yierba%20mate "Yerba"]. Retrieved 23 May 2013. Yerba may be understood as 'herb', but also as 'grass' or 'weed'. It may also be used in reference to marijuana (Cannabis sativa). In Argentina, {{lang|es|yerba}} refers exclusively to the {{lang|es|yerba mate}} plant. {{lang|es|Yerba mate}}, therefore, literally means the 'gourd herb'; i.e., the herb one drinks from a gourd.

The Portuguese name for the plant is pronounced {{IPA|pt|ˈɛɾvɐ ˈmate|}} or {{IPA|pt|ˈɛɾvɐ ˈmatʃi|}} in the areas of traditional consumption. The drinks are usually called {{lang|pt|chimarrão}} {{IPA|pt|ʃimaˈʁɐ̃w|}} (hot; traditionally served in a gourd), {{lang|pt|tereré}} {{IPA|pt|teɾeˈɾɛ|}} (cold; traditionally served in a bull horn), or {{lang|pt|chá mate}} {{IPA|pt|ˈʃa ˈmate|}} (hot or cold; lit. 'mate tea', served in cups or glasses). While {{lang|pt|chá mate}} is made with roasted leaves, the other drinks are made with raw or lightly toasted green leaves, and are very popular in the south and center-west of the country. Most people, colloquially, call both the plant and the beverage by the word {{lang|pt|mate}}.

In English, both the spellings mate and maté are used to refer to the plant or the beverage. The acute accent over the final '-e' was likely added by analogy with words of French origin like café, not to mark stress but to indicate that the '-e' is not silent as it is in the English word mate (partner or friend);{{cite web |date=13 August 2010 |title=Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary |url=http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/yerba%20mate |access-date=5 June 2011 |publisher=M-w.com}}{{cite encyclopedia |title=mate - beverage |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/mate-beverage |access-date=8 October 2015}} indeed French also uses the spelling {{lang|fr|maté}} with an accent.{{Cite web |title=maté - traduction - Dictionnaire Français-Anglais WordReference.com |url=https://www.wordreference.com/fren/mat%C3%A9 |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=www.wordreference.com |language=fr}} In Spanish, the spelling {{lang|es|maté}} is an unrelated word meaning 'I killed', a conjugation of the verb matar.[http://www.wordmagicsoft.com/dictionary/es-en/mat%E9.php "Word Magic Spanish Dictionary"]. Retrieved 23 May 2013.

Ilex paraguariensis begins as a shrub and then matures to a tree, growing up to {{convert|15|m|ft|sp=us}} tall. The leaves are evergreen, {{convert|7|–|110|mm|in|1|sp=us}} long and {{convert|30|–|55|mm|in|1|sp=us}} wide, with serrated margins. The leaves are often called {{lang|es|yerba}} (Spanish) or {{lang|pt|erva}} (Portuguese), both of which mean "herb". They contain caffeine (known in some parts of the world as mateine) and related xanthine alkaloids, and are harvested commercially.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The flowers are small and greenish-white with four petals. The fruit is a red drupe {{convert|4|–|6|mm|in|sp=us}} in diameter.

Junqueira 2001 reported extrafloral nectaries on its leaves.{{cite journal |date=2012-10-18 |first1=Marjorie G. |last1=Weber |first2=Kathleen H. |last2=Keeler |title=The phylogenetic distribution of extrafloral nectaries in plants |pages=1251–1261 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcs225 |journal=Annals of Botany |eissn=1095-8290 |volume=111 |issue=6|pmc=3662505 }}

{{main|History of yerba mate}}

File:Yerba Mate.jpg

Mate was first consumed by the indigenous Guaraní people and also spread in the Tupí people that lived in the departments of Amambay and Alto Paraná the territory of Paraguay. Its consumption became widespread during European colonization,{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Maté |volume=17 |pages=877–878}} particularly in the Spanish colony of Paraguay in the late 16th century, among both Spanish settlers and indigenous Guaraní, who had, to some extent before the Spanish arrival, consumed it. This widespread consumption turned it into Paraguay's main commodity above other wares, such as tobacco, and the labour of indigenous peoples was used to harvest wild stands.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}

In the mid-17th century, Jesuits managed to domesticate the plant and establish plantations in their Indian reductions in Misiones, Argentina, sparking severe competition with the Paraguayan harvesters of wild stands. {{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} It is here when the plant began its incursion into other non-Paraguayan territories. After their expulsion in the 1770s, their plantations fell into decay, as did their domestication secrets.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} The industry continued to be of prime importance for the Paraguayan economy after independence, but development in benefit of the Paraguayan state halted after the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) that devastated the country both economically and demographically.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} Some regions with mate plantations in Paraguay became Argentine territory.{{Cite journal |last=Reber |first=Vera Blinn |date=July 1985 |title=Commerce and Industry in Nineteenth Century Paraguay: The Example of |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/americas/article/abs/commerce-and-industry-in-nineteenth-century-paraguay-the-example-of-yerba-mate/A7B61EBD98F37BD7029AE705E20D5328 |journal=The Americas |language=en |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=29–53 |doi=10.2307/1006706 |jstor=1006706 |s2cid=147135625 |issn=0003-1615}}

Brazil then became the largest producer of mate.[http://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/vidaecidadania/especial-erva-mate/ "Erva-mate - o ouro verde do Paraná"]. Retrieved 10 July 2013. In Brazilian and Argentine projects in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the plant was domesticated once again, opening the way for plantation systems.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} When Brazilian entrepreneurs turned their attention to coffee in the 1930s, Argentina, which had long been the prime consumer,{{cite web |title=Can Yerba Mate cause cancer? |date=7 December 2024 |url=https://netdoctorcenter.com/diseases/cancer/yerba-mate-tea-and-cancer-risk/ |access-date= |publisher=Netdoctorcenter.com}} took over as the largest producer, resurrecting the economy in Misiones Province, where the Jesuits had once had most of their plantations. For years, the status of largest producer shifted between Brazil and Argentina. Today, Brazil is the largest producer, with 53%, followed by Argentina, 37%, and Paraguay, 10%.{{cite web|url=http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods/|website=dol.gov|title=List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor|access-date=28 March 2021}}

In the city of Campo Largo, state of Paraná, Brazil, there is a Mate Historic Park ({{langx|pt|Parque Histórico do Mate}}), funded by the state government to educate people on the sustainable harvesting methods needed to maintain the integrity and vitality of the oldest wild forests of mate in the world. As of June 2014, however, the park is closed to public visitation.{{cite web |url=http://www.museuparanaense.pr.gov.br/modules/conteudo/conteudo.php?conteudo=56 |title=Parque Histórico do Mate |language=pt |trans-title=Mate Historic Park |publisher=Paraná State Secretariat for Culture |access-date=3 June 2014 }}

File:Yerba-mate-misiones.JPG, Argentina]]

The yerba mate plant is grown and processed in its native regions of South America, specifically in Paraguay, some parts of northern Argentina (Misiones), Uruguay, and southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Mato Grosso do Sul). Cultivators are known as {{lang|es|yerbateros}} (Spanish) or {{lang|pt|ervateiros}} (Brazilian Portuguese).

Seeds used to germinate new plants are harvested after they have turned dark purple, typically from January to April. After harvest, they are submerged in water in order to eliminate floating non-viable seeds and detritus like twigs, leaves, etc. New plants are started between March and May. For plants established in pots, transplanting takes place April through September. Plants with bare roots are transplanted only during the months of June and July.Burtnik, Oscar José, [http://www.inym.org.ar/inym/imagenes/Trabajos_Realizados/manual-produ.pdf "Yerba Mate Production"], 3rd Edition, 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2013.

Many of the natural enemies of yerba mate are difficult to control in plantation settings. Insect pests include Gyropsylla spegazziniana, a true bug that lays eggs in the branches; Hedyphates betulinus, a type of beetle that weakens the tree and makes it more susceptible to mold and mildew; Perigonia lusca,{{cite journal | last=Moscardi | first=Flávio | title=Assessment of the Application of Baculoviruses for Control of Lepidoptera | journal=Annual Review of Entomology | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=44 | issue=1 | year=1999 | issn=0066-4170 | doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.44.1.257 | pages=257–289| pmid=15012374 }} a moth whose larvae eat the leaves; and several species of mites. P. lusca may be controlled with a nuclear polyhedrosis virus used as a biopesticide. This was first applied in 1992.

When I. paraguariensis is harvested, the branches are often dried by a wood fire, imparting a smoky flavor. The strength of the flavor, caffeine levels, and other nutrients can vary depending on whether it is a male or female plant. Female plants tend to be milder in flavor and lower in caffeine. They are also relatively scarce in the areas where yerba mate is planted and cultivated.{{cite web|url=http://www.nativayerbamate/harvest.html|title=Nativa Yerba Mate|publisher=Native Yerba Mate|access-date=18 July 2011}}

According to Food and Agriculture Organization in 2012, Brazil is the biggest producer of mate in the world with 513,256 metric tonnes (MT) (58%), followed by Argentina with 290,000 MT (32%) and Paraguay with 85,490 MT (10%).{{cite web|url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx|title=FAOSTAT|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|access-date=5 April 2015}}

{{Main|Mate (drink)}}

File:Mate 02.jpg in a cup that resembles a gourd, the customary vessel]]

The infusion, called {{lang|es|mate}} in Spanish-speaking countries and {{lang|pt|chimarrão}} in Brazil, is prepared by filling a container, traditionally a small, hollowed-out gourd (described below), up to three-quarters full with dry leaves (and twigs) of I. paraguariensis, and filling it up with water at a temperature of {{convert|70|–|80|C}}, hot but not boiling. Sugar may or may not be added. The infusion may also be prepared with cold water, in which case it is known as {{lang|pt|tereré}}.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rutadelayerbamate.org.ar/yerba-mate/hacer-un-buen-mate/|title=Cómo hacer un buen Mate | Ruta de la Yerba Mate|website=www.rutadelayerbamate.org.ar|accessdate=9 January 2022}}

Drinking mate is a common social practice in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Southern Brazil, and Southern Chile among people of all ages, and is often a communal ritual following customary rules. Friends and family members share from the same container, traditionally a hollow gourd (also called a {{lang|es|guampa}}, {{lang|es|porongo}}, or simply {{lang|es|mate}} in Spanish, a {{lang|pt|cabaça}} or {{lang|pt|cuia}} in Portuguese, or a {{lang|it|zucca}} in Italian), and drink through the same wooden or metal straw (a {{lang|es|bombilla}} in Spanish or {{lang|pt|bomba}} in Portuguese). The gourd is given by the brewer to each person, often in a circle, in turns. The recipient drinks the few mouthfuls in the container, and then returns the mate to the brewer, who refills it and passes it to the next person in clockwise order. The recipient is not supposed to give thanks until they are done drinking the beverage, and if they do, they will not be served any more mates. Although traditionally made from a hollowed calabash gourd, these days mate "gourds" are produced from a variety of materials including wood, glass, bull horns, ceramic, and silicone.{{cite web|url=https://www.nativeleaf.co.uk/guide-to-yerba-mate-gourds/|title=Guide to Yerba Mate Gourds|website=Native Leaf|date=12 February 2016 |access-date=28 March 2021}}

In the same way as people meet for tea or coffee, friends often gather and drink mate ({{lang|es|matear}}) in Paraguay, Argentina, Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Southern Chile. In warm weather the hot water is sometimes replaced by lemonade. Paraguayans typically drink yerba mate with cold water during hot days and hot water in the morning and during cooler temperatures.

Yerba mate is most popular in Paraguay and Uruguay, where people are seen walking the streets carrying the {{lang|es|mate}} and often a {{lang|es|termo}} (thermal vacuum flask) in their arms. In Argentina, {{convert|11|lb|order=flip|abbr=on|0}} of yerba mate is consumed annually per capita; in Uruguay, the largest consumer, consumption is {{convert|22|lb|order=flip|abbr=on|0}}.[http://web.mit.edu/rjbarbal/Tea/yerba-mate "Mate: The Bitter Tea South Americans Love to Drink"]. Retrieved 30 May 2013. The amount of herb used to prepare the infusion is much greater than that used for tea and other beverages, which accounts for the large weights.

The flavor of brewed mate resembles an infusion of vegetables, herbs, and grass and is reminiscent of some varieties of green tea. Some consider the flavor to be very agreeable, but it is generally bitter if steeped in hot water. Sweetened and flavored mate is also sold, in which the mate leaves are blended with other herbs (such as peppermint) or citrus rind.{{cite web|url=http://www.ma-tea.com/categories/Yerba-Mate/Loose-Leaf/Flavored/|title=Flavored Yerba Mate|publisher=Ma Tea|access-date=30 May 2013}}

File:Selection of Yerba Mate Gourds.JPG

In Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, a version of mate known as {{lang|es|mate cocido}} (or just mate or cocido) in Paraguay and {{lang|pt|chá mate}} in Brazil is sold in teabags and in a loose-leaf form. It is often served sweetened in specialized shops or on the street, either hot or iced, pure or with fruit juice (especially lime, known in Brazil as {{lang|pt|limão}}) or milk. In Paraguay, Argentina, and Southern Brazil, this is commonly consumed for breakfast or in a café for afternoon tea, often with a selection of sweet pastries (facturas).

An iced, sweetened version of mate cocido is sold as an uncarbonated soft drink, with or without fruit flavoring. In Brazil, this cold version of {{lang|pt|chá mate}} is especially popular in the south and southeast regions, and can easily be found in retail stores in the same cooler as other soft drinks.{{cite web|url=http://saude.abril.com.br/emagrece-brasil/beneficios-cha-mate.shtml |title=Mate: o chá da hora |access-date=4 September 2012}} {{lang|pt|Mate batido}}, which is toasted, has less of a bitter flavor and more of a spicy fragrance. {{lang|pt|Mate batido}} becomes creamy when shaken and is more popular in the coastal cities of Brazil, as opposed to the far southern states, where it is more commonly consumed in the traditional way (green, with a silver straw from a shared gourd), and called {{lang|es|chimarrão}} ({{lang|es|cimarrón}} in Spanish, particularly Argentine Spanish).{{cite web|url=http://que-significa.com.ar/significado.php?termino=cimarron|title=Significado de 'cimarrón'|access-date=5 July 2013}}

In Paraguay, Southern Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul, west of São Paulo and Paraná), and the Argentine littoral, a mate infusion, called {{lang|es|tereré}} in Spanish and Portuguese or sometimes {{lang|pt|tererê}} in Gaúcho, Caipira and Sulista Portuguese, is also consumed as a cold or iced beverage, usually sucked out of a horn cup called a {{lang|es|guampa}} with a {{lang|es|bombilla}}. The Guarani used to drink it in this format, but without the ice as they did not have the technology for it, reason why, it is accredited to be the first and original way of consumption. {{lang|es|Tereré}} can be prepared with cold water (the most common way in Paraguay and Brazil) or fruit juice (the most common way in Argentina). The version with water is more bitter; fruit juice acts as a sweetener (in Brazil, this is usually avoided with the addition of table sugar). Medicinal or culinary herbs, known as {{lang|es|yuyos}} (weeds), may be crushed with a pestle and mortar and added to the water for taste or medicinal reasons.{{cite web|url=http://www.ma-tea.com/pages/Terere.html|title=Terere|publisher=Ma Tea|access-date=30 May 2013}}

File:Yerba Mate shop, Puerto Iguazu, Argentina.JPG

Paraguayans have a tradition of mixing mate with crushed leaves, stems, and flowers of the plant known as {{lang|es|flor de agosto}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.mec.gov.py/cmsmec/?attachment_id=20625|title=Flor de agosto|accessdate=9 January 2022}} (the flower of August, plants of the genus Senecio, particularly Senecio grisebachii), which contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Modifying mate in this fashion is potentially toxic, as these alkaloids can cause veno-occlusive disease, a rare condition of the liver which results in liver failure due to progressive occlusion of the small venous channels.{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/jcp.29.9.788 |title=A case of veno-occlusive disease of the liver in Britain associated with herbal tea consumption |year=1976 |last1=McGee |first1=J |last2=Patrick |first2=R S |last3=Wood |first3=C B |last4=Blumgart |first4=L H |journal=Journal of Clinical Pathology |volume=29 |issue=9 |pages=788–94 |pmid=977780 |pmc=476180}}

Mate has also become popular outside of South America. In the tiny hamlet of Groot Marico, North West Province, South Africa, mate was introduced to the local tourism office by the returning descendants of the Boers, who in 1902 had emigrated to Patagonia in Argentina after losing the Anglo Boer War. It is also commonly consumed in Lebanon, Syria, and some other parts of the Middle East, mainly by Druze and Alawite people. Most of its popularity outside South America is a result of historical emigration to South America and subsequent return. It is consumed worldwide by expatriates from the Southern Cone.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1017/S0010417509990314| title = Stimulating Consumption: Yerba Mate Myths, Markets, and Meanings from Conquest to Present| journal = Comparative Studies in Society and History| volume = 52| pages = 6–36| year = 2009| last1 = Folch | first1 = C. | s2cid = 145175412}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/features/mate-tea-a-longtime-lebanese-hit_22142|title="Mate" tea a long-time Lebanese hit|newspaper=Your Middle East|access-date=6 January 2017}}

Materva is a sweet, carbonated soft drink based on yerba mate. Developed in Cuba in 1920, and produced since the 1960s in Miami, Florida, it is a staple of the Cuban culture in Miami.{{cite news |last=Wong |first=Samantha |title=Materva: Un Buchito de Cuba |url=http://www.jwu.edu/uploadedFiles/Documents/Academics/studentwork/JWUStuFoodWritingNMI.pdf |access-date=10 September 2020 |newspaper=Johnson and Wales: Student Food Writing |page=8 (PDF p. 11) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113000105/https://www.jwu.edu/uploadedFiles/Documents/Academics/studentwork/JWUStuFoodWritingNMI.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2014}}{{Cite book |title=The Cuban Kitchen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmJlvl1mVUgC&pg=PA6 |first=Raquel Rábade |last=Roque |date=2011 |edition=1st |page=6 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |access-date=10 September 2020 |isbn=9780375711961 |language=en}}

File:Yerba Mate on Market Shelf.jpg in Barcelona, Spain]]

Yerba mate contains a variety of polyphenols, such as the flavonoids, quercetin and rutin.{{cite journal|vauthors=Gambero A, Ribeiro ML |title=The positive effects of yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis) in obesity|journal=Nutrients|volume=7|issue=2|pages=730–50|date=January 2015| pmid= 25621503| pmc= 4344557| doi= 10.3390/nu7020730|doi-access=free }}

Yerba mate contains three xanthines: caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline, with caffeine content varying between 0.7% and 1.7% of dry weightDellacassa, Cesio et al. Departamento de Farmacognosia, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Uruguay, Noviembre: 2007, pp. 1–15 (compared with 0.4–9.3% for tea leaves, 2.5–7.6% in guarana, and up to 3.2% for ground coffee).{{cite web|url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/duke/chemical.pl?CAFFEINE |title=Activities of a Specific Chemical Query |publisher=Ars-grin.gov |access-date=5 June 2011}}{{cite journal | last1=Pichersky | first1=Eran | last2=Lewinsohn | first2=Efraim | title=Convergent Evolution in Plant Specialized Metabolism | journal=Annual Review of Plant Biology | volume=62 | issue=1 | date=2011-06-02 | issn=1543-5008 | doi=10.1146/annurev-arplant-042110-103814 | pages=549–566| pmid=21275647 | bibcode=2011AnRPB..62..549P }} Theobromine content varies from 0.3% to 0.9%; theophylline is typically present only in small quantities or sometimes completely absent.{{cite journal |pmid=3821141 |year=1986 |last1=Vázquez |first1=A |last2=Moyna |first2=P |title=Studies on mate drinking |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=267–72 |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |doi=10.1016/0378-8741(86)90005-x}} In some circles, mateine is a referential term for caffeine when found present in yerba mate (similar to theine from tea or guaranine from guarana).{{cite book|last=Scully|first=Crispian|title=Medical Problems in Dentistry|url={{Google books|PHLvOVaB0AEC|page=693|plainurl=yes|text=Caffeine is called guaranine when found in guarana, mateine when found in mate and theine when found in tea.}}|page=693}} Yerba mate also contains minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, and manganese.{{cite journal |first1=Eunice |last1=Valduga |first2=Renato João Sossela |last2=de Freitas |first3=Carlos B. |last3=Reissmann |first4=Tomoe |last4=Nakashima |year=1997 |title=Caracterização química da folha de Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil. (erva-mate) e de outras espécies utilizadas na adulteração do mate |url=http://ojs.c3sl.ufpr.br/ojs-2.2.4/index.php/alimentos/article/viewArticle/14033 |language=pt |journal=Boletim do Centro de Pesquisa de Processamento de Alimentos |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=25–36|doi=10.5380/cep.v15i1.14033 |doi-access=free }}

There is no good evidence for yerba mate having an effect on body weight in humans.{{cite journal|vauthors=Pittler MH, Ernst E |title=Dietary supplements for body-weight reduction: a systematic review|journal= Am J Clin Nutr|volume=79|issue=4|pages=529–36|date=April 2004|pmid=15051593|doi=10.1093/ajcn/79.4.529|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|vauthors=Pittler MH, Schmidt K, Ernst E |title=Adverse events of herbal food supplements for body weight reduction: systematic review|journal=Obes Rev|volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=93–111|date=May 2005| pmid= 15836459| doi= 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2005.00169.x|s2cid=25448193}}

File:Oesophageal Cancer, Age-Standardized Rate (World) per 100.000 of Incidence Cases, Both sexes, Worldwide in 2022.svg rate) in 2022 {{legend|#cfe1f2|0–1}}

{{legend|#93c3df|1–1.8}}

{{legend|#4b97c9|1.8–2.9}}

{{legend|#1864aa|2.9–4.2}}

{{legend|#08306b|4.2–17.9}}

{{legend|#4F4F4F|No data / Not applicable}}]]

Hot mate consumption is associated with oesophageal cancer. Very hot beverages (above 65°C) are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as probably carcinogenic to humans (group 2A), which also includes hot mate, as it is typically consumed at a temperature of 70°C. This classification indicates that the link between very hot beverage consumption and cancer is likely, but the proportion of oesophageal cancer cases due to drinking very hot beverages is not yet known.{{Cite web |url=https://www.iarc.who.int/media-centre-iarc-news-drinking-very-hot-beverages/ |title=FACT SHEET: CANCER OF THE OESOPHAGUS AND DRINKING VERY HOT BEVERAGES| volume= 116 |date=2016-06-15 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=International Agency for Research on Cancer |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240429053159/https://www.iarc.who.int/media-centre-iarc-news-drinking-very-hot-beverages/ |archive-date=2024-04-29 |url-status=live |format=}}

There is no such association for cold mate and, in general, preparations under 65°C are not considered carcinogenic and are evaluated as not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans (group 3).{{Cite book |title=Drinking Coffee, Mate, and Very Hot Beverages |year=2018 |publisher=International Agency for Research on Cancer |isbn=978-92-832-0183-0 |url=https://publications.iarc.fr/Book-And-Report-Series/Iarc-Monographs-On-The-Identification-Of-Carcinogenic-Hazards-To-Humans/Drinking-Coffee-Mate-And-Very-Hot-Beverages-2018 |format= |issn=1017-1606 |author-link=International Agency for Research on Cancer |access-date=2024-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429063524/https://publications.iarc.fr/Book-And-Report-Series/Iarc-Monographs-On-The-Identification-Of-Carcinogenic-Hazards-To-Humans/Drinking-Coffee-Mate-And-Very-Hot-Beverages-2018 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |url-status=live |archive-format=}}{{cite journal |last1=Loomis |first1=Dana |last2=Guyton |first2=Kathryn Z |last3=Grosse |first3=Yann |last4=Lauby-Secretan |first4=Béatrice |last5=El Ghissassi |first5=Fatiha |last6=Bouvard |first6=Véronique |last7=Benbrahim-Tallaa |first7=Lamia |last8=Guha |first8=Neela |last9=Mattock |first9=Heidi |last10=Straif |first10=Kurt |title=Carcinogenicity of drinking coffee, mate, and very hot beverages |journal=The Lancet Oncology |date=July 2016 |volume=17 |issue=7 |pages=877–878 |doi=10.1016/S1470-2045(16)30239-X |pmid=27318851 |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(16)30239-X/ |access-date=29 April 2024}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Monographs-QA_Vol116.pdf |title=Q&A on Monographs Volume 116: Coffee, maté, and very hot beverages |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=International Agency for Research on Cancer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429074410/https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Monographs-QA_Vol116.pdf |archive-date=2024-04-29 |url-status=live |year=2016 }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr244_E.pdf |title=PRESS RELEASE N° 244 - IARC Monographs evaluate drinking coffee, maté, and very hot beverages |date=2016-06-15 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=International Agency for Research on Cancer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429055633/https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr244_E.pdf |archive-date=2024-04-29 |url-status=live }}

File:Benzo(a)pyrene Concentration in Processed Yerba Maté Leaves Sampled in 2006, 2008, and 2010 - Column Chart.svg displaying Benzo(a)pyrene concentration in processed yerba mate leaves sampled in 2006, 2008, and 2010: {{legend|#8b5a2b|2006 batches}}

{{legend|#654321|2008 batches}}

{{legend|#423629|2010 batches}}]]

Since the traditional preparation of yerba mate leaves involves smoking them they contain a high number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as benzo(a)pyrene, which are carcinogenic.{{cite journal |last1=Golozar |first1=Asieh |last2=Fagundes |first2=Renato B. |last3=Etemadi |first3=Arash |last4=Schantz |first4=Michele M. |last5=Kamangar |first5=Farin |last6=Abnet |first6=Christian C. |last7=Dawsey |first7=Sanford M. |title=Significant Variation in the Concentration of Carcinogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Yerba Maté Samples by Brand, Batch, and Processing Method |journal=Environmental Science & Technology |date=18 December 2012 |volume=46 |issue=24 |pages=13488–13493 |doi=10.1021/es303494s |pmid=23101992 |pmc=3525749|bibcode=2012EnST...4613488G }}

{{Commons category|Ilex paraguariensis}}

• Black drink
• Club-Mate
• Matte Leão
• Ilex guayusa, known as guayusa, another caffeine-containing holly species of the Ilex genus, native to the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest
• Ilex vomitoria, a caffeine-containing species of the Ilex genus native to North America
• Kuding, Ilex kudingcha
• Materva
• Nativa
• Guayaki
• Yerba Mate Playadito

{{Reflist|group=Puangpraphant, Sirima. Berhow, Mark A. Vermillion, Karl. Potts, Greg. Gonzalez de Mejia, Elvira}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [https://daily.jstor.org/plant-of-the-month-yerba-mate/ Plant of the Month: Yerba Mate] at JSTOR Daily. January 5, 2023

{{Yerba mate}}

{{Herbal teas}}

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