Showing 111 – 120 of 202 resources
The objective of this study was to characterize the chemical composition of the five maple syrup grades, including their pH, conductivity, mineral and carbohydrate contents. In general, quantification of the range of chemical composition for each standard maple syrup grade will strengthen the existing knowledge of maple syrup chemistry.
In the marketplace today, there are numerous instances where a product that does not contain any real maple syrup conveys in various ways, on its packaging or in its advertising and promotion materials, that it does contain real maple syrup or, even, is real maple syrup. The International Maple Syrup Institute (IMSI) and the North American Maple Syrup Council (NAMSC) believe that such behavior is misleading and deceptive to consumers, be it intentional or not, and should be curtailed, much as with any truth in advertising or labeling issue.
Pure maple syrup is on the rise in a declining overall market for pourable syrups. We are moving in the right direction, but still have a long way to go.
Sap flow is only part of what determines the total amount of syrup made (and how much money ends up in a syrup producer’s pocket). New research suggests sugar makers may be advised to look to their trees’ canopies as well as the weather forecast if they want to predict the tapping season.
A table to help determine sap prices, and commentary on the factors that should be considered when purchasing sap.
Summaries of research presentations at the 2014 annual NAMSC meeting.
Sap exudation refers to the process whereby sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum) are capable of generating significant stem pressure in a leafless state, something that occurs to a lesser extent in only a few other related species such as birch and walnut. This exudation pressure is what causes maple sap to flow from a taphole in sufficient quantities to be harvested and processed into syrup. Exudation has been studied for well over 100 years and has been the subject of many scientific studies, but there is as yet no definitive explanation for how such large pressures can be generated in the absence of transpiration (i.e., when no photosynthesis occurs to drive the flow of sap).
Both the Asian longhorned beetle and the use of imidacloprid to protect sugar maples from this pest pose a threat to maple syrup producers.
Two main issues relate to the sustainability of maple sugaring; tree wounding and sugar removal. In other words, does a tapped maple tree grow more wood than is compartmentalized (functionally “removed by the tree’s normal wound response process) each year and/or does sap collection take more sugar from the tree than can be readily replaced through photosynthesis? These two issues, although separate in some respects, are inextricably intertwined.
3/16″ tubing can provide some yield benefit by creating natural vacuum. That benefit will be directly related to the elevation drop of the lateral line.