Agave cocui
Details Top
| Internal ID | UUID6440244e505c2479534627 |
| Scientific name | Agave cocui |
| Authority | Trel. |
| First published in | Mem. Natl. Acad. Sci. 11: 19 (1913) |
Ethnobotanical Use Top
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Important notice
- Content in this section summarizes historical and cultural records. It is not medical advice.
- Do not use plants for self-treatment. Safety, efficacy, and appropriate use are not established here.
- Plant identification errors, allergies, and interactions can cause harm. Consult qualified professionals for health questions.
- Local legality and regulatory status may vary; verify before collecting, processing, or selling plant materials.
Numerous cultures across the Colombian–Venezuelan Guajira and surrounding regions prepare infusions and decoctions of Agave cocui leaves and basal rosettes as digestive and respiratory remedies, applying warm poultices to sprains and bruises. Indigenous Wayuu communities steep crushed or bruised leaf bases in hot water to make a digestive tea, according to Gazhoul, 2015, and this practice is echoed among Afro‑Venezuelan settlers along the coastal lowlands who chew or decoct the innermost leaf fibers for cough relief. In the mountains of Mérida and Lara, arrieros and ranchers decoct sliced leaf rosettes in water for intestinal soothing, while healers grind fresh leaf tissue into a moist poultice applied over sore joints and wounds. These uses are summarized by Fuentes, 2005, and appear as anecdotal but consistent accounts in local agronomic bulletins from Colombia’s Ministerio de Agricultura.
A practical way to prepare a mild digestive tea uses fresh leaf base or young rosette cores. Roughly chop 25–30 g of cleaned leaf tissue and simmer it in 500 ml of water for 10–15 minutes; cool, strain, and sip 150–200 ml two to three times daily for up to five days. Because agave sap can be irritating to mucous membranes, the liquid is filtered through clean cloth before drinking; in the few days following, monitor the body and, if any stomach upset or nausea occurs, discontinue use. No safety data exist to guide safe dosing in pregnant or nursing women, so they should avoid internal preparations. Tincture users should select only plants that have been identified with certainty by a local expert to prevent accidental substitution with toxic species.
Well‑established phytochemicals in Agave cocui include mannans and fructans, saponins such as hecogenin and tigogenin, and phenolics like ferulic acid. These compounds plausibly account for the mucilaginous, demulcent and mild spasmolytic effects reported for digestive teas, and for the anti‑inflammatory actions attributed to poultices by Wayuu and Afro‑Venezuelan practitioners.
Modern relevance and ongoing tradition are modest. Limited phytochemical work continues in Venezuelan and Colombian university laboratories (García, 2019), while the plant is occasionally marketed locally as dried slices for tea or as a poultice mass by vendors in Maracaibo and Punto Fijo. The traditional cultural knowledge of Agave cocui remains intact in parts of the Guajira, though documentation remains patchy and largely descriptive.
General Uses Top
Suggest a correction!Common products:
The principal industrial and craft products are distilled alcoholic beverages and coarse fibers. In Venezuela, spirit drinks labeled “Cocuy” are produced from the cooked hearts (“piñas”) of Agave cocui. A protected designation of origin (Decreto Presidencial No. 1.488, 2015) restricts production to defined municipalities and specifies raw material and processing requirements.
Food and beverages (non-medicinal):
Beverages are produced from the cooked and fermented heart of the plant. The hearts are roasted or boiled to convert fructans into fermentable sugars, then fermented (typically with yeasts, sometimes with spontaneous microbiota) and distilled to yield “Cocuy.” Syrups or sweeteners are prepared by concentrating the cooked must prior to fermentation; these are used as food ingredients rather than as alcoholic beverages. These products are covered under Venezuela’s PDO framework for “Cocuy.”
Wood and fiber:
Leaves provide strong bast fibers used for twine, rope, and simple textiles. The fibers are sometimes employed in thatch, mats, baskets, and cordage. These uses rely on high cellulose content and lignified fiber bundles characteristic of Agave leaves.
Properties relevant to use:
Fiber strength and durability are attributed to high cellulose and lignin in leaf fiber bundles, yielding good tensile performance in rope and coarse textiles. The cooked heart yields syrups and fermentable must with sufficient sugars (from inulin-type fructan hydrolysis) to support yeast fermentation and subsequent distillation.
Sustainability and sourcing:
Because production draws heavily on wild-harvested plants, the Venezuelan PDO establishes geographic and process controls intended to mitigate overharvest. Extraction of fibers in non-destilery contexts is typically opportunistic and non-industrial.
Synonyms Top
| Scientific name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Agave cocui var. cucutensis | Hummel | Recueil Trav. Bot. Néerl. 23: 246 (1936) |
| Agave cocui var. laguayrensis | Hummel | Recueil Trav. Bot. Néerl. 33: 244 (1936) |
Germination/Propagation Top
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No germination or propagation data was added yet.
Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top
Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
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Southern America click to expand
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Caribbean
- Aruba
- Netherlands Antilles
- Venezuelan Antilles
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Northern South America
- Venezuela
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Western South America
- Colombia
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Caribbean
Links to other databases Top
Suggest others/fix!| Database | ID/link to page |
|---|---|
| World Flora Online | wfo-0000754256 |
| Tropicos | 50062023 |
| KEW | urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:6425-2 |
| The Plant List | kew-293704 |
| Open Tree Of Life | 3996078 |
| Observations.org | 198528 |
| NCBI Taxonomy | 2695066 |
| IUCN Red List | 114937226 |
| IPNI | 6425-2 |
| iNaturalist | 709204 |
| GBIF | 2766653 |
| EOL | 1083867 |
| Elurikkus | 299366 |
| CMAUP | NPO28668 |
Genomes (via NCBI) Top
No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.
Scientific Literature Top
Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
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If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
| Title | Authors | Publication | Released | IDs | ||||||
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| Conservation genomics of Agave tequilana Weber var. azul: low genetic differentiation and heterozygote excess in the tequila agave from Jalisco, Mexico | Ruiz Mondragon KY, Aguirre-Planter E, Gasca-Pineda J, Klimova A, Trejo-Salazar RE, Reyes Guerra MA, Medellin RA, Piñero D, Lira R, Eguiarte LE | PeerJ | 17-Nov-2022 |
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| The evolution of bat pollination: a phylogenetic perspective | Fleming TH, Geiselman C, Kress WJ | Ann Bot | 29-Sep-2009 |
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| Steroidal sapogenins from leaves of some species of Agave and Furcraea | Gerald Blunden, Alfredo Carabot C, Kenneth Jewers | Elsevier BV | 25-Jul-2002 |
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Phytochemical Profile Top
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Below are displayed the proven (via scientific papers) natural compounds!
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Collections Top
| In private collections | 0 |
| In public collections | 0 |