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This article is meant to be an introduction to the chemistry of maple sap and syrup: in particular, what makes this sweet liquid maple syrup instead of just a concentrated sugar solution? The types of sugars, the trace ingredients, and the mineral content make maple syrup more than just plain sugar water.
Although many analyses of the chemical composition of maple syrup have been conducted, relatively little information exists on the differences in composition of the individual syrup grades. As a first step in acquiring this information we performed a study to determine the characteristic sugar composition of each maple syrup grade.
A great deal has changed since the 1960s and 1970s in terms of maple production and recommended practices, especially given the introduction of the new polyethylene tubing formulations and new types of spouts. Consequently, we are occasionally asked whether lateral lines in gravity tubing installations should be vented. As a result of these questions, we compared sap yield from standard non vented (closed) 5/16″ lateral lines alongside a vented 5/16″ installation under gravity conditions.
Color grading of maple syrup is based on placing syrup samples within four or more categories based either on visual comparison to color references or measurement of light transmission with a spectrophotometer. With a spectrophotometer, specific transmission values are used as break points to divide syrup samples into color grades. The purpose of this report is to describe the lack of agreement between existing light transmission break points and visual grading and how this problem can be addressed.
One major limitation to the sap-run forecasting ability of many producers is that measurement of air temperature in one location does not capture the wide variation in air temperature throughout the sugarbush; nor does it accurately reflect the temperature of the diverse parts of trees, or of the soil. A study of the range of temperatures in the forest during sugaring time is helpful in understanding some of the influences of weather on sap flow. This article briefly summarizes a large set of data collected over the past years which includes many sugarbush temperatures, and will give a few examples of the sometimes unexpected variation in temperatures which occur during the spring.
In the next one hundred years New England’s cooler regions may no longer promote the growth of sugar maples, which are well adapted to the region’s current climate. The change in climate will support species that now grow to the south of New England and in lower elevations, especially oaks and southern pines. Additionally, there will be the threat of non-native species, both insect pests and invasive plant species which may take over the forests.
A new research facility designed and dedicated to the study of the effects of sap processing equipment and techniques on the chemistry and quality of maple syrup is being constructed at the UVM Proctor Maple Research Center. This facility will allow researchers to evaluate the differences in maple syrup due to changes in sap processing equipment, including reverse osmosis, evaporators, and other evaporation equipment (steam-away, air injection units, etc.).
Over the course of one maple sap season in Western New York that started approximately March 8, 2005 and ended April 9, 2005, four maple sap locations were sampled to determine the levels and diversity of microbial populations contained in the different sap samples.
Making maple syrup in the mild climate of southern Illinois is lesspredictable and more work. The sap seasons are longer, there is an almost certain need to freshen the tap holes, and the freeze-thaw cycles are less predictable.
Watershed budget studies at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), New Hampshire, USA, have demonstrated high calcium depletion of soil during the 20th century due, in part, to acid deposition. Over the past 25 years, tree growth (especially for sugar maple) has declined on the experimental watersheds at the HBEF. In October 1999, 0.85 Mg Ca/ha was added to Watershed 1 (W1) at the HBEF in the form of wollastonite (CaSiO3), a treatment that, by summer 2002, had raised the pH in the Oie horizon from 3.8 to 5.0 and, in the Oa horizon, from 3.9 to 4.2. We measured the response of sugar maple to the calcium fertilization treatment on W1.