[6] In Mexico, 170,000 square kilometers (65,637 sq mi) are considered "protected natural areas".
[2] Plants indigenous to Mexico are grown in many parts of the world and integrated into their own national cuisines.
Some of Mexico's native culinary ingredients include: maize, tomato, beans, squash, chocolate, vanilla, avocado, guava, chayote, epazote, camote, jícama, nopal, zucchini, tejocote, huitlacoche, sapote, mamey sapote, and a great variety of chiles, such as the habanero and the jalapeño.
Tequila, the distilled alcoholic drink made from cultivated agave cacti is a major industry.
Because of its high biodiversity Mexico has also been a frequent site of bioprospecting by international research bodies.