Agave (pronounced uh-GAH-vay) nectar, once available only in natural foods stores, is now sold in supermarkets and other mainstream retail outlets. This natural sweetener comes from several species of desert plants native to the Americas that store energy in the form of a sweet-tasting carbohydrate called inulin. Agave nectar is produced by expressing the juice from the core, then filtering, heating and treating it with natural enzymes to convert the inulin to sugars.
As a sweetener, agave nectar ranks relatively low on the glycemic load scale. Although it provides as many calories as sucrose (table sugar), it is much sweeter, so you can use less of it - say one-quarter of a cup to substitute for one cup of sugar in most recipes. I like the pleasant, neutral taste of agave nectar and use it as my main sweetener, although I don't use sweeteners very often, and when I do, I use only small amounts - no more than a tablespoon or two a week.

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