Due to the oversupply and scarcity cycles of the Agave tequilana Weber blue variety, the effect of agave age (harvested in 4, 5, and 6 years) as raw material for the tequila 100% agave silver class was studied for each stage in a full-scale (industrial) process. Harvested plants showed differences in their morphological characteristics that affected the amount of juice; this had an impact in the fermentation stage since must composition was modified in the nitrogen content and juice/exudate ratio. This was noticed due to an increase in the production of higher alcohols attributed to the odd-chain fatty of the exudate, which affects n-propanol production. The characterization of the final product showed the feasibility to use agaves (less than 7 years) to produce the Tequila 100% agave silver class and to comply with the quality criteria. Furthermore, the final product was analyzed with the gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass-spectrometry technique to determine its authenticity. The δ13CVPDB isotopic parameter (-13.40‱ in average) values show the type of plant used as a raw material for ethanol production, while the δ18OVSMOW (20.52‱ in average) isotopic parameter can be helpful in corroborating and ensuring the traceability of the product and the geographical location of the beverage production.
Keywords: agave age; agave exudate; higher alcohols; industrial scale tequila production; quality and authenticity; tequila.