Invert sugar in maple sap?

[AdirondackSap]

I was watching a youtube video of Dufresne sugar house i believe its berkshiremaple.com. He was talking about invert sugars in maple sap as the season progressis. That the sap changes to invert sugar is because of microbial contamination as is gets warmer. If you notice in the early part of sugaring your pan could be boiling over the side of the pan so you add vegetable oil that is more sucrose sugar. The more invert sugar you have the bacteria there is in your sap. The longer it takes to draw off i noticed this around the first or second week of march here in whitehall this last 2011 season it was just taking forever too draw off so i shut the evaporator down as i was running oil fired evaporator. My point is that invert sugars in sap shows you that the trees are changing there thinking about puttung buds out so the sugars change from sucrose to inverted sugar that means the more microbial contamination in the sap leading to a grade b syrup. Maybe Someone else could explain alittle better?

[DrTimPerkins]

Invert sugar is due to microbial contamination. Essentially nearly all the sugar coming from the tree is sucrose, a large 12-carbon sugar molecule. After it comes out, it rapidly becomes contaminated with microbes, which cleave (hydrolyze) the 12-carbon sugar into 2 6-carbon sugars, glucose and fructose, which are called "invert" sugars. The amount of "inversion" is related to microbial growth and temperature. Even at the end of the season with a high loading of microbes, only a small amount (maybe 2-3% typically) of the sucrose may actually be converted to invert sugar.

Invert sugars, even in low concentration, have very large effects on color and flavor development (causing dark color and strong flavor to be produced) as well as on crystallization properties (impede crystallization) of maple syrup.

The other thing that changes in sap chemistry during the season is the amino acid composition. Eventually, at the end of the season, the quantity and types of amino acids released yield the "buddy" off-flavor that signal the end of the season.

[AdirondackSap]

Thank you Dr for clearing this up for me.

[GeneralStark]

There has been a great deal of discussion about this here, especially in regards to sap collection systems. Some have raised the question: how can traditional flavored maple syrup be produced using modern technology? Pipeline and tubing systems, RO, super efficient high speed evaporators, defoamers, etc. allow producers to collect and boil in very short periods of time and quickly produce large quantities of syrup. This certainly can be a good thing if profit is your primary motivation. However, some have observed a loss of the traditional "maple flavor" and have coined the term "technosyrup" to describe this sucrose syrup lacking the traditional maple flavor we all know, and that our customers desire. Why pay $55 for a gallon of sucrose syrup with no maple flavor when you can buy a bag of cane sugar for considerably cheaper? We're not just selling sugar, we are selling the unique flavors found in maple syrup. Maple syrup that has been produced by boiling maple sap that has been contaminated to some degree by microbes. The microbes that, simply stated, assist in the production of the maple flavors. No microbes, no maple flavor. The question is, how can a producer find a balance?

On a related note, it is possible to test the amount of invert sugar in sap and syrup using a Glucometer.

For those interested in reading more on this subject, here is one thread: http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?15429-Hyde-Park-VT-Maple-School-Highlights/page2&highlight=hyde+park

[Beweller]

Keep the tap hole clean, as nearly sterile as practical--to maximize sap yield

Inoculate the sap with bacteria
...Wild bacteria, those accidently introduced, or
...Special cultures, selected for superior flavor
......(Will this conflict with the "nothing added" rule of "pure" maple syrup?)

Incubate the inoculated sap
...(this may require a few hours or perhaps a week, depending on the culture and temperature)

Process the sap through RO (optional)
...(RO may be used to reduce fuel consumption, but NOT to increase thruput)

Adjust firing rate and thruput of the evaporator
...A specific time/temperature history should be produced
......Optimization my require processing to a higher temperature/sugar content,
......diluting back to standard concentration

Filter and bottle.

[Vermonner]

There has been a great deal of discussion about this here, especially in regards to sap collection systems. Some have raised the question: how can traditional flavored maple syrup be produced using modern technology? Pipeline and tubing systems, RO, super efficient high speed evaporators, defoamers, etc. allow producers to collect and boil in very short periods of time and quickly produce large quantities of syrup. This certainly can be a good thing if profit is your primary motivation. However, some have observed a loss of the traditional "maple flavor" and have coined the term "technosyrup" to describe this sucrose syrup lacking the traditional maple flavor we all know, and that our customers desire.


I often hear people say "I can taste the difference between bucket gathered, wood fired, no RO syrup and today's high tech syrup--the new stuff just doesn't taste like what grandpa used to make." To which I ask, how old were you when Grandpa made syrup? They inevitably say , "I was (insert number less than 10 here)." To which I think "sure, you have a crystal clear memory of 35+ years ago, when your child neurological system hadn't been dulled down by time and your tastebuds hadn't been singed beyond recognition by scalding your tongue with coffee 3 x per week for the last 20+ years, and this is the basis for your argument"

I do not believe it possible for syrup to taste different, since the process for production remains the same (removing water from sap), only the method of water removal is enhanced (RO). Maybe I'm wrong, but I personally can taste no difference, it is still beyond delicious.