THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO KICKING SUGAR by Flora Zhao - HTML preview

Chapter 3

NATURAL SUGARS: HONEY, MAPLE, AND COCONUT

Navindra Seeram, professor and chair of the Department

of distinct flavors, including vanilla, hazelnut, floral, and of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Univer-coffee, and can even be spicy.

sity of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, said during an

Canada is responsible for about 75 percent of the interview with The Epoch Times.

world’s maple syrup production, and its syrup is classified into two primary grades: Canada Grade A and Canada

Processing Grade. Then, Canada Grade A is further grad-

ed into four color classes:

How Is Maple Syrup Made?

• Golden: delicate flavor

• Amber: rich flavor

Maple syrup is a natural sweetener extracted from the sap

• Dark: robust flavor

of maple trees, collected and concentrated without the

• Very dark: strong flavor

addition of any chemicals. The method for collecting ma-

Canada Processing Grade maple syrup doesn’t have

ple sap and making syrup was introduced to early North

color classes and is commonly used for large-scale com-

American settlers by Native Americans. It takes about 40

mercial applications.

liters of tree sap to make 1 liter of maple syrup.

Sap collecting to make maple syrup typically starts

in late winter or early spring, usually from February to

March, and lasts only a few weeks. Maple trees accumu-

late starch during growth, which is converted into sugar

during the spring thaw. This sugar then mixes with water

absorbed by the tree’s roots to form maple sap. As the pressure changes due to rising temperatures and the ground

thawing, maple producers bore holes into the tree, and

taps are installed, allowing the sap to flow from the trunk.

Maple syrup can vary significantly from region to

region and tree to tree. Fascinatingly, maple syrup’s characteristics continuously evolve throughout the entire harvesting season. At the beginning of the season, the syrup is Holes are bored into the trunks of maple trees to tap maple sap.

(Marc Bruxelle/Shutterstock)

relatively clear with a slight sweetness. As the season pro-gresses, the syrup becomes darker and develops a range

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Chapter 3

NATURAL SUGARS: HONEY, MAPLE, AND COCONUT

The Composition of Maple Syrup

Maple’s Nutrient Cocktail

Based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

In contrast to refined sugar, primarily composed of su-

(USDA), sugars comprise about 60 percent of maple syr-crose, maple syrup contains a diverse range of more than

up, while water accounts for 32 percent.

250 substances. These compounds either occur naturally

Maple syrup contains three types of sugars: sucrose,

in the maple tree or are formed during processing.

glucose, and fructose. Sucrose is a disaccharide composed

“It also contains a cocktail of other substances,”

of one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule, ac-

Seeram said.

counting for 98.3 percent of all sugars in maple syrup, fol-Maple syrup contains oligosaccharides, organic acids,

lowed by glucose (1.1 percent) and fructose (0.6 percent).

amino acids, vitamins, and various minerals. It’s also rich While sucrose makes up most of the sugar in maple

in phenolic compounds, which exhibit a range of biologi-

syrup, the GI of maple syrup is lower than that of sucrose, cal activities.

with maple syrup having a GI value of 54 and sucrose hav-There are more than 67 grams of carbohydrates in

ing an average GI value of 66. This means that consum-

100 grams of maple syrup. It also contains 225 milligrams ing an equal amount of maple syrup compared to sucrose

of potassium; 109 milligrams of calcium; magnesium,

would result in a relatively smaller increase in blood sugar manganese, zinc, and iron; and trace amounts of thiamin,

levels.

riboflavin, and niacin.

“Maple syrup is a much better option than refined

sugar. It’s actually sweeter, which is beneficial because you can get away with using less of it,” Amy Gonzalez, a regis-tered U.S. dietitian, told The Epoch Times. In other words, Maple Syrup as a Superfood

a smaller amount of maple syrup is required to achieve the same level of sweetness compared to refined sugar.

Seeram said maple syrup contains numerous substances

She explained that we can reduce the amount by a

that warrant further research and development. Its pheno-

quarter when using maple syrup as a substitute for regular

lic compounds exhibit a range of beneficial activities, in-sugar in cooking. For example, if a recipe requires 1 cup of cluding anti-mutagenic, anti-radical, antioxidant, anti-in-white sugar, 3/4 cup of maple syrup would suffice.

flammatory, antidiabetic, and even anti-cancer properties.

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