Mizquitl

You might better know it by the name ¨Mesquite,¨ the common name given to basically any leguminous pod grown from any of the prosopis varieties, which grow all along the Americas.  Maintaining an especially important presence in Southern United States, Mexico, Peru and Argentina.

Much is being done to propose the use of this plant.  It is commonly considered to be a weed because it competes for moisture and water with range grasses which are meant for cattle and other herds. It has shown an extreme resiliency to counter actions against it, including efforts for its complete removal from certain regions.

The plant’s durability is primarily due to its long taproots which tend to extract water from deep water tables, while also being able to extract from top level water sources.   Mesquite works efficiently to switch between mechanisms of drawing water in order to accommodate the harsh desert conditions which it lives under. The tree also can regenerate from a small piece of root left in the soil, which makes its complete removal quite difficult.

The importance of this tree as a source of nutrition as been widely recognized among desert dwelling Native American groups, such as the Pima, Tohono O´odham, Zuni, Raramuri, Mayo, Seri etc.  The name by which we recognize this food is a derivative of the original name given by the Aztecs, ¨mizquitl,” the etymology of which I have yet to find.  Presently communities living in the southern United States have started a revival of the consumption of the species prosopis glandulosa, better known as honey mesquite, as well as Prosopis pubescens (screwbean), prosopis velutina (Velvet) and prosopis juliflora.

Wood, dye, medicine, and other functions were given to the whole tree. It has recently been used as a source of delicious mesquite honey. The most important thing to note here is the variance that exists in the market’s mesquite products. Not all mesquite is made equal and not all mesquite is actually mesquite! The common most popular ¨mesquite¨ in the market is actual prosopis nigra, alba and pallida.  Both come from South America, the first two primarily out of Argentina and the latter from Peru. These were baptized by the name ¨algarrobo¨, algarroba being the name for the actual fruit or pod which grew from the tree.  These “mesquites” share most of the same characteristics: desert to arid growing condition, leguminous, nitrogen fixer, source of food for native fauna and human colonies. The name algarrobo came from the similarity of the fruit to the better known European Carob.  What does all this mean?  Although Algarrobo is extremely similar to mesquite, the two are different.  Algarrobo products that are called mesquites in the market are not properly named.

Mezquitl has a unique taste due to its specific ecological conditions and its resulting nutritional constitution.  The fact that one group finds itself enclosed in the area surrounding northern Mexico and Utah in the United States, thousands of miles away from the Algarrobo varieties found in Peru, Chile, and Argentina leads us to believe that a common ancestor might be shared among the genus.  Central America has almost no proposes, except for proposis juliflora, which is found there, but only due to recent introduction.  Despite the possibility of a common ancestor between the similar plants in North America and South America, its adaptation to different environments, though both grow in arid locations, can cause slight to sever differences to the fruit yield.  Much like the Cacao (theobroma cacao L.) tree, which has it made its way across the tropical Americas, its morphology, biochemistry, and organoleptic properties change from place to place. We can deduce that the same is true for the prosopis varieties.  This is evident in the shape (leaf, pod), taste, morphology (whole tree), and taste of the different varieties.

In short, the idea is not to make a statement on whether North or South American varieties are superior. Rather, a clarification of the nomenclature being used in the commercial, organic industry is appropriate for honoring the integrity and unique composition of all varieties of this plant.

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