Ahornsirup (bio, roh?)

"Maple syrup is a delicacy prepared by boiling the sap taken from different Acer species, mainly sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) trees."

"Other than sucrose, which is maple syrup’s principal sugar, its flavor is a complex mix of not only minerals, amino acids, oligosaccharides, organic acids, and phenolic and volatile aromatic compounds, but also microbial contaminants from maple sap. According to Filteau et al., as well as its associated microflora, sap content can change during seasons and syrup color usually darkens as the season progresses." "As previously stated, the chemical composition of sap and syrup can significantly differ depending on geographical origin."

"Of the many natural sweeteners, maple syrup is recognized as a much superior alternative to refined sugar for not only its mineral content, but also for its high concentration of phenolic compounds with bioactivity properties, i.e., anti-mutagenic, anti-radical, antioxidant, and anti-cancer. Compared to dextrose, corn syrup and brown rice syrup, maple syrup brings about lower glucose and insulin responses, which make it a healthier substitute for refined sugars in our diet."

"Maple syrup comprises sugar, trace amounts of organic acids, free amino acids, protein, minerals, and phenolic compounds. These trace components allow maple syrup’s taste profile to be distinguished from that of sucrose. They are what contributes to its potential health benefits when compared to sucrose."

"In fact, current scientific evidence indicates that phenolic compounds play a key role in the body’s defense, protecting it from damage caused by reactive oxygen species known to be involved in the genesis of various pathologies, cardiovascular, oncological, autoimmune, degenerative, etc."

"Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reports Canada as the world’s largest producer of maple products..."

"Quebec is the province with the highest maple syrup production levels in Canada, which leaves the second highest producing province, New Brunswick, far behind. New Brunswick’s production levels are the same as that of Vermont in the USA, which is by far the nation’s biggest maple syrup producer, followed by New York."

"More recently, interest in this product has spread to other areas of the globe like Europe and Japan, owing to the demand for natural sweeteners."

"Maple tapping often begins late in winter or early in spring...To make maple syrup, sweet watery xylem sap is collected and concentrated. As a result of the pressure build-up caused by the freeze-thaw cycle, this sap pours out of maple tree trunks. To make one liter of maple syrup, around 40 liters of sap (containing 2–3% sugar) are required."

"The more important producing species are Acer saccharum (70%) and Acer rubrum (29%). Nevertheless, other silver species, such as silver maple Acer saccharinum and black maple Acer nigrum (1%), can be considered as maple sap-producing species."

"Maple sap is normally collected in February-March when weather conditions make it easy to collect sap. This is done by boring holes in maple tree trunks. The encrusted tap permits sap to flow by pipelines to buckets. Sap is then concentrated by boiling it down into maple syrup."

"Maple trees accumulate starch as they grow, which is converted into sugar during spring thaws and mixes with water absorbed by tree roots to create maple sap, which generally flows between February and April every year."

Siehe Kapitel 2 für "Weiterführende Informationen".

Narratives Review

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192013684

Study: weak evidence

"Maple syrup has a unique flavor that distinguishes it from other syrups and sucrose. The flavor of maple syrup is influenced by multiple factors such as chemical change in the composition of the sugar, production location, time of the season, production methods, filtering, and packaging conditions, as well as environmental conditions. The flavor of maple syrup depends on the syrup grade. It can range from a very light, sweet, but otherwise nearly tasteless substance, to a very dark, bitter, burnt taste."

"Included among the elements and nutrients potentially conferring health benefits are macronutrients (primarily sucrose), and phytochemicals (primarily phenolics). There is growing interest in studying the bioactivity of maple syrup's phenolic compound composition owing to the antioxidant properties of many phenolics. Maple syrup also contains minerals (K, Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Al, etc.), organic acids (malic acid, fumaric acid, etc.), amino acids (arginine, threonine, proline, etc.), phytohormones (phaseic and abscisic acids and their metabolites), and vitamins (niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, etc.) which enhance its nutritional value."

"As was the case for antioxidant activity, the anti-inflammatory properties of maple syrup are often largely attributed to the occurrence of a variety of phenolic compounds."

"Due to the potent concentration of antioxidants and anti-aging compounds found in maple syrup, its ingestion has the potential to play a positive role in protecting skin and enhancing complexion."

"n summary, maple syrup contains a wide range of chemical compounds that possess various pharmacological attributes such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiaging, anti-alzheimer, and antimutagenic activities, as well as decreasing blood glucose levels."

"Maple syrup contains a wide range of chemical compounds, many of which present potential health benefits but some of which are recognized as contributing to health issues." "In contrast, carbohydrates are the main dietary component of maple syrup and it must be recognized that the potential health benefits as noted above, may be partially offset by the link between carbohydrate consumption and diseases such as diabetes and obesity."

"Overconsumption of refined sugar is currently considered one of the main reasons for the global rise in obesity rates, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic disorders. To attenuate this trend, maple syrup is frequently presented as an alternative to refined sugar, together with honey and agave, natural sweeteners that could be nutritionally effective if introduced as part of a reduced-sugar diet. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, sugar has a glycemic index of 65, whereas maple syrup has a glycemic index of 54. From a health standpoint, natural sweeteners are preferred due to their higher nutritional value resulting from a higher concentration of compounds deemed to be healthy, which compensate for most of the negative refined sugar effects."

"In 2022, approximately 17.4 million gallons (ca 65.8 million liters) of maple syrup were produced in Canada and 5.3 million gallons (ca 20.2 million liters) in the United States."

"Maple syrup is produced by boiling sap of the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) at 104 °C to evaporate water and concentrate the content of sugar to 66% or 66–67 brix, which results in a thick, sweet syrup. Maple syrup has different grades (range from light to dark) that differ in color, composition, and flavor. Maple sap collected early in the season delivers a syrup whose color is light, while the syrup made later, when the weather is warmer, is dark."

"Table 2. List of the pharmacologically active compounds isolated from maple syrup extracts."

Narratives Review

DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19216

Study: weak evidence

"In general, lighter-color (higher grade) syrups tend to contain lowe levels of flavor compounds than darker (lower grade) syrups. Some extremely light syrups have very little flavor (other than sweet)."

"Although the dominant taste is usually sweet, maple syrup can range from a very light, sweet, but otherwise nearly tasteless substance, to a very dark, bitter, burnt taste. Most syrups used for table use on pancakes or in cooking are intermediate in color and have a moderate to strong maple-caramel flavor, without objectionable off-flavors."

"Several different legends describe how Native Americans discovered that the sap of maple trees was sweet and could be boiled down to form maple sugar (Heiligmann et al., 2006). The most likely explanation is that they observed birds and animals cutting holes or gashes into the twigs of trees, or drops of sap falling after branch breakage by snow or wind. These small wounds ooze sap in the spring, forming small drops of sap that are concentrated by the sun and wind, or form sweet icicles of sap. The Native Americans undoubtedly recognized this and collected sap by cutting slashes in the trunks of maple trees and used skins, hollowed wooden vessels or clay pots to collect the sap, which was then concentrated by boiling to form a very dark and strong-tasting sugar. At certain times of the year, maple sugar could comprise a significant portion of their total caloric intake. Early colonists throughout New England took up the practice of making maple sugar due to the high cost of imported sugars, and because the practice occurs at a time of year when other agricultural endeavors are not possible."

"Under the appropriate conditions, a sweet sap can be collected from most maple (Acer) species. In general, however, only the sap of sugar, black, and red maple is commonly used to make maple syrup. Where maple trees are found in abundance and weather conditions are appropriate, commercial maple production can occur."

"After collection, maple sap must be transformed through some means of concentration into maple syrup. The two major processes utilized are evaporation by heating and reverse osmosis followed by heating."

Narratives Review

DOI: 10.1016/S1043-4526(08)00604-9

Study: weak evidence

"Falls du einen eigenen Spitzahorn im Garten stehen hast und du zwischen Februar und Anfang Mai deinen eigenen Ahornsirup herstellen möchtest, prüfe erst einmal den Stamm deines Baumes. Er sollte mindestens 25 cm Durchmesser aufweisen. Aus einem gross gewachsenen Baum erhältst du in der Erntezeit zirka 40 Liter Flüssigkeit. Diese ergeben angedickt etwas mehr als einen Liter Sirup."

"Zum Anzapfen und Eindicken des Sirups benötigst du:

• Zapfrohr, alternativ einen einfachen PVC-Schlauch (z.B. diesen)
• Auffanggefäss (z.B. eine Milchkanne verwenden oder eine leere Getränkeflasche, die du an den Stamm bindest)
• Sammelbehälter (Fassungsvermögen in Summe 40 Liter)
• Bohrmaschine mit entsprechendem Aufsatz
• Massband
• Topf
• Trichter
• Bügelverschlussflaschen oder Gefässe mit Twist off Deckel"

"So gehst du vor:

1. Bohre den Stamm auf der Seite an, die über den ganzen Tag hinweg am meisten Licht bekommt. Gut geeignet ist eine Stelle unterhalb eines dicken Astes oder über einer grossen Wurzel. Wichtig ist dass sich diese Stelle zwischen 30 bis 120 cm vom Boden entfernt befindet.
2. Das Loch richtet sich nach der Breite und Länge deines Zapfhahns. Es sollte jedoch mindestens 1,5 cm tiefer ausfallen, als der Hahn in das Holz ragt.
3. Führe die Bohrung in einem nach unten geneigten Winkel aus.
4. Mit dem Rohr förderst du das austretende Ahornwasser zum Auffanggefäss. Decke den Behälter gegen Regen und Insekten ab. Optional ist ein Schlauch dabei behilflich.
5. Kontrolliere deine Zapfstelle jeden Tag und sammle den bereits aufgefangenen Saft in einem grossen, verschliessbaren Gefäss.
6. Nicht vergessen: Die Zapf-Stelle nach dem Ende der Ernte wieder gut verschliessen, zum Beispiel mit einem passend zurechtgeschnitzten Stück Holz (danke an Shirley für den Hinweis)!
7. Am Ende der Erntezeit kannst du den Sirup eindicken.
8. Gib den gezapften Saft in einen grossen Topf und erwärme ihn so lange, bis er eine dickflüssige, sirupartige Konsistenz hat.
9. Fülle ihn in die gut gereinigten Flaschen ab."

"Anmerkungen:

• Der ideale Erntebeginn zeigt sich beim Aufbrechen der Knospen. Dann sind die Temperaturen in der Nacht noch unter 0 °C und am Tag ist es schon warm. Durch diese Temperaturschwankungen fliesst der Saft stärker und enthält auch am meisten Zucker.
• Die dunklere Farbe des gezapften Safts zeigt an, dass die Ahornsaft-Saison zu Ende geht.
• Um das Wachstum des Baumes nicht zu beeinträchtigen, sollte die Ernte des Baumsafts je Baum nur alle zwei Jahre durchgeführt werden."

Website

"Verdünnt mit billigem Sirup aus Zuckerrohr, irreführend benannt als »echter Sirup mit Ahorngeschmack« oder ganz einfach falsch deklariert."

Website

Nährstofftabellen.

Website

"Ball (2007) determined that sucrose, glucose, and fructose content in maple syrup comprised 68.0%, 0.43%, and 0.30%, respectively. Water content of maple syrup was 31.7%, while malic and fumaric acid levels were 0.47%, and 0.004%, respectively. Twenty-four phenolic compounds were isolated from a mediumgrade maple syrup by Abou-Zaid et al. (2008)."

"Maple syrup is comprised of a mixture of sugars, water, and other organic compounds such as organic acids, amino acids, proteins, pyrazines, phenolics and some vitamins. In addition, maple syrup contains unique compounds such as an enolic viscous oil and 5′-inosine monophosphate that are responsible for its special taste and odor."

Narratives Review

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131817

Study: weak evidence

"According to a study by the AGECO Group, a can of maple syrup in 2021 emits approximately 600 g of GHGs, the equivalent of traveling 1.7 km by car. The largest share of the footprint is due to the contents of the can, i.e., the syrup itself. Indeed, packaging represents only 15% of the footprint and transport only 5%. More than half of this syrup’s carbon footprint comes from the processing step. In fact, today 50% of the syrup is produced with an oil-fired evaporator, which generates significant CO₂ emissions during its combustion to create heat."

"In 2020, wood-fired evaporators were mainly used by small producers since they have time to season their wood and operate the evaporator during the sugaring season. These evaporators represent approximately 30% of the GHG emissions from the production of maple syrup.
A wood pellet evaporator makes it possible to have a carbon footprint for the transformation into syrup that is 82 times lower compared to an oil-fired evaporator. And the gain is even greater by changing to an electric evaporator in Quebec. Finally, changing its evaporator for a cleaner technology reduces the life cycle GHG emissions of our can of syrup by more than 25%. Moreover, the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers have set themselves the goal of reducing their GHG emissions by pushing for the adoption of cleaner evaporators (-29% by 2030)."

"Sugar bushes are considered carbon sinks, i.e., the quantity of CO₂ released by the decomposition of dead wood is lower than the quantity of CO₂ captured by photosynthesis during the growth of the trees and stored in its trunk, its branches and its roots.
According to a study conducted in 2016 by the AGECO Group, the sugar bushes in production in Quebec would store 962,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, or the equivalent of 9% of the total GHG emissions emitted from all vehicles in Quebec yearly. So in the end, sugar bushes store 8 times more carbon than what the production of maple syrup emits!"

Website

"Es werden auch keine Insektizide und keine Bleichmittel zum Offenhalten des Bohrlochs eingesetzt wie im konventionellen Betrieb."

"Konventionelle Ausbeutung dagegen setzt Pumpen ein, die jeden Baum mit Unterdruck regelrecht melken - man ist dann stolz auf saftige 120 l pro Stamm."

Book: moderate evidence

Website

Website

Privately owned forests comprise around 60% of the total forest cover across the contiguous United States and are managed for a range of economic outputs. Such private working forests contribute to large-scale conservation outcomes across the US and the globe. Voluntary conservation programs aim to motivate private forest owners to adopt biodiversity-focused management actions. However, it is often assumed that such management, and by extension, participation in programs, meaningfully increases financial costs borne by forest owners. Thus, these costs may preclude biodiversity-focused management across working forests. We use maple syrup production to test the claim that biodiversity-focused management incurs additional costs, especially for those enrolled in conservation programs. We analyzed reports of forest management actions, management costs, and conservation program enrollment among 70 individuals who manage 5,252 hectares of forest for maple syrup. Our core findings were that 1) most private forest owners engaged with several management actions linked to improved biodiversity outcomes, 2) there was no difference in management costs between those who implemented many “biodiversity friendly” management actions and those with fewer actions. Additionally, relationships between maple syrup yields and management costs did not differ across the number of management actions adopted, nor with producer enrollment in conservation programs. This finding suggests that the maple syrup industry, valued globally at $1.1 billion USD, could play a significant role in delivering habitat at minimal cost to producers. Beyond maple syrup, our study provides a backdrop for future work investigating the opportunity costs of biodiversity-focused forest management in working forests across the globe.

Querschnittsstudie

DOI: 10.1016/j.tfp.2026.101223

In addition, we also reported that a polyphenol-enriched maple syrup extract (MSX) showed inhibitory activity against AGEs formation and protective effects against AGEs- and MGO-induced cytotoxicity in normal human colon cells.

Herein, we evaluated the protective effects of MSX against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)- and MGO-induced cytotoxicity, as well as its antioxidant and cellular DNA protection activities in human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells).

In-vitro-Zellkulturstudie

DOI: 10.1111/dth.13426

Study: weak evidence

Maple wood is offered as round and sawn timber as well as veneer and is mainly used in furniture construction and interior finishing and among many other uses.

Beobachtungsstudie mit Laboranalyse

DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.973686

Study: moderate evidence

This article presents a proposal of thermal modification of Norway spruce and sycamore maple for special wood products, mainly for musical instruments. Selected physical and acoustical characteristics (PACHs), including the density (ρ), dynamic modulus of elasticity along the wood grain (EL), specific modulus (Esp), speed of sound along the wood grain (cL), resonant frequency (fr) and acoustic constant (A), logarithmic decrement (ϑ), loss coefficient (η), acoustic conversion efficiency (ACE), sound quality factor (Q), and the timbre of sound, were evaluated. These two wood species were chosen regarding their use in the production or repair of musical instruments. For the thermal modification, a similar process to the ThermoWood process was chosen. Thermal modification was performed at the temperatures 135 °C, 160 °C and 185 °C. The resonant dynamic method was used to obtain the PACHs. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) was used to analyze the sound produced. The changes in the observed wood properties depended on the treatment temperature. Based on our results of all properties, the different temperature modified wood could find uses in the making of musical instruments or where the specific values of these wood characteristics are required. The mild thermal modification resulted in a decrease in mass, density, and increased speed of sound and dynamic modulus of elasticity at all temperatures of modification. The thermally modified wood showed higher sound radiation and lower loss coefficients than unmodified wood. The modification also influenced the timbre of sound of both wood species.

Experimentelle Laborstudie

DOI: 10.3390/polym14142813

Study: weak evidence