Nutrition Value:

Mineral: Potassium (high levels), Magnesium (high levels), Manganese - (high levels), Calcium, Iron, Selenium, Phosphorus, Zinc Note: traces of aluminum and arsenic are found, as well.

Vitamins: A, C, E, V, B, B1, B2, B3 (Niacin), B5

Compounds: Carotene, Fatty Acids, Chlorophyll, Flavonols, Polyphenols, Inositol, Trace Minerals, Antioxidants, Tannins, Pantothenic Acid, Amino Acids (15 of them), PhytochemicalsSuperfoods", Saponins Note: 196 volatile chemical compounds found in Yerba Mate (144 are also found in some teas). The infusions of Ilex paraguarensis are less astringent than those made of tea.

Alkaloids: caffeine, theophylline, theobromine - most interesting compounds from a therapeutic standpoint.

Components: water, cellulose, gums, dextrin, mucilage, glucose, pentose, fat substances, aromatic resin, legumin, albumin, xanthine, theophylline, caffearin, folic acid, caffeic acid, viridic acid, chlorophyll, cholesterin, essence oil.

Ashes contain great amounts of potassium, lithium, folic, sulfuric, carbon, chloric, citric acids "

According to Dr. Mowry, Director of Mountainwest Institute of Herbal Sciences, one group of investigators from the Pasteur Institute and the Paris Scientific Society of 1964, interested in this "Drink of the Gods", did a thorough study of its properties and concluded that Yerba Mate contains "practically all of the vitamins necessary to sustain life" They focused especially on Pantothenic Acid, remarking that it is "rare to find a plant with so much of this significant and vital nutrients...It is indeed difficult to find a plant in any area of the world equal to Mate in nutritional value."