Maple syrup

Yesterday, while shopping, they offered organic maple syrup next to the honey. Well, this is the first time I buy, we often see in the American series they eat with pancakes and maple syrup and I never had the opportunity to taste before . It's super good and very liquid, I imagined it had more consistency of caramel but not at all it's more like colored water.

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Maple syrup is naturally sweet. It is made from maple sap that is collected in early spring and is then concentrated by boiling. Maple sap is distinct from maple sap, which arrives in late spring and is a syrup with a bitter taste. The harvest of maple water is called maple syrup.

Maple syrup is made in the forests of northeastern North America, where three quarters of the world's production is in Quebec (95% of Canadian production) and is now sold all over the world. especially in Japan1.
The method of transforming maple sap into syrup was already known and controlled by the native populations of Canada upon the arrival of Europeans. It was used especially as a tonic food in the spring.

Today, maple syrup consumption is widespread in Quebec and Ontario where syrup is sometimes consumed daily, selling at a relatively low price. Maple syrup is also popular in countries like Japan or Germany as a rare exotic food. In Canada and the United States, syrup can be replaced with lower-priced table syrup containing corn syrup and artificial flavors

Manufacturing

Of the many maple species, three are mainly used for the production of maple syrup: black maple, sugar maple and red maple.

Most maple sap is produced in Canada and processed into syrup, particularly in Quebec, with lower production in Ontario and New Brunswick. It is also produced in some states of the United States of America, including Vermont, New York State, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, and Pennsylvania. The characteristic climate of these regions at the end of winter is a determining factor in the production of maple syrup.

The largest maple grove in the world, Érablière Nord-Ouest, is located in Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick, and has a total of 178,000 taps.

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It is only after evaporation that the water becomes more consistent and gives rise to maple syrup. It takes between 35 and 40 liters of maple sap to obtain one liter of syrup.

It is important to reach the right level of evaporation because, if the syrup is too dense, it will crystallize; on the other hand, if it is too liquid, it may ferment.

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The maple syrup is classified by color: from extra light to dark. The clearer the syrup, the better the class, but the less the taste is pronounced. The finest syrup is made in mid-season. For a long time, the preference went to a maple syrup that was as clear as possible. Until the eighteenth century, maple syrup was mainly consumed directly by producers or their relatives. At the time, it was harder and more expensive for these people to obtain cane sugar than maple syrup. We were looking for maple sugar that is as close as possible to cane sugar. Today, some come back to more colorful syrups because they have a more pronounced taste.

Harvest

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Maple syrup producers collect maple water mainly in late winter or early spring, depending on the region, when freezing nights are followed by days of thaw, this period is known as the sugar season in Quebec7 . A cut in the tree is used to recover maple water, which contains about 2% to 3% sugar. This sugar, sucrose, comes from the spring transformation of the starch stored in the roots of the tree, under the action of an enzyme, as soon as the temperature of the roots reaches at least 1 ° C.

In spring, it rises under the bark of the tree to provide sufficient energy to revive its metabolism.
Maple sap, raw sap is different from the elaborate sap. This one, much more loaded with minerals and complex organic molecules, does not go up by the roots until the metabolism of the tree is revived. The arrival of the sap and its bitter taste marks the end of the maple water harvest.

The water of a maple whose trunk is less than 20 cm in diameter is never harvested. The general rule is to wait until 45 years after planting a maple tree before starting to harvest water. However, a sugar maple can live up to 300 years or more. It can therefore give water every spring for many years.

Benefits

Maple syrup contains polyphenols and has an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity value comparable to common fruits and vegetables in our diet.

Maple water and maple syrup also contain significant amounts of terpenes, especially abscisic acid. This acid is recognized, among others, to stimulate the release of insulin by pancreatic cells and increase the sensitivity of fat cells to insulin, which gives it therapeutic properties for the metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Canada's maple syrup contains more than 20 antioxidant compounds.

A study has shown that maple syrup concentrate makes bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics. According to researchers, this discovery could help reduce antibiotic resistance problems and reduce the amount of antibiotics administered to a patient.

A team of researchers from Laval University has demonstrated the anti-inflammatory properties of a molecule found in maple syrup, Quebec. This molecule, along with other derived molecules, could allow a new treatment for arthritis as well as other inflammatory diseases.

Maple syrup is 32% water and 68% carbohydrate, of which 80% is sucrose. Other sugars found in this product are glucose and fructose. At an equal amount of sugar, the energy value of maple syrup is 1/3 fewer calories.

Its glycemic index is lower than sugar: in fact, it is 55 against 70 for sugar.
One study showed that cells capture glucose present without causing high insulin secretion.

Made only from maple sap, maple syrup has not undergone any processing other than cooking and contains no coloring or additives.

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The maple syrup is one of only sugars contain anti-oxidants in significant amounts (3 to 5 times as honey): in fact, a portion of 60 ml of maple syrup has an antioxidant capacity comparable to that of a banana or a part of broccoli.
This is due to manganese involved in cell protection and polyphenols which help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Maple syrup can replace refined sugar in all culinary preparations. Used both as a sugar in hot drinks or to sweeten breakfast cereal, its light caramel flavor complements the pancakes, yogurt, pancakes, waffles, muffins, fruit salads, cakes. It can also accompany salty dishes, poultry and meat.

I'm happy to have discovered maple syrup and its taste is delicious. I put a little in my fruit nut mixture to taste it, it's a treat!

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