Maple Syrup: Is It Good For You?

Maple syrup is one of the oldest and most original natural products in existence. Maple syrup today is tapped from Canadian maple trees in the spring, as it was hundreds of years ago. The first white settlers learned the secret of the trees from the Native Americans. Today, the sweet liquid is a Canadian export hit, there are numerous maple syrup recipes – although the classic American version with maple syrup to pancakes is still the most popular preparation with this syrup.

Discovery of maple syrup

Legend has it that an Indian once watched a squirrel climb up the branch of a maple tree, bite a small hole in the bark and begin to drink. To see what tasted so good to the squirrel, the Indian also cut a branch and tasted the liquid that came out. The man was so delighted by the sweet taste that he immediately told his tribal brothers about the tree that shed crystal sugar tears.

Not long after, the Indians had learned to tap the maple trees and boil the sap into delicious syrup. This technique has hardly changed to this day.

Maple syrup: production and extraction.

Only in spring during the thaw, when the starch stored in the trees turns into sugar, the trunks can be tapped for a few weeks. All that is required is to drill a hole in the bark into which a tap is inserted. The crystallized liquid then drips through this tap into a bucket or hose.

Now it must be taken to a “sugarhouse” and processed within the next 24 hours. There, the juice is evaporated, filtered, and finally bottled or containerized. Boiling several times causes the initially transparent liquid to thicken into a dark, viscous syrup.

Maple tree as a clever dispenser

This whole process of making maple syrup is done in complete harmony with nature. The tree only releases as much sap as it can spare – after all, it needs much of the starch for itself.

At the same time, a maple farmer would never take more than the tree can give, because only a healthy tree can give sap again the next year. Incidentally, a maple tree must be at least 40 years old before it can be tapped for the first time.