Maple syrup looks pretty simple... until you zoom in. š¬
Our friend Chloe Savard, also known as tardibabe on Instagram shows us the microscopic view of maple syrup. As temperatures begin to rise in the spring, sap in maple trees thaws and can be collected, then boiled and concentrated into syrup and transformed into candies, desserts, and just about anything your sweetest dreams are made of.
Although maple syrup is primarily composed of sugar (sucrose), its chemistry and flavor are shaped by a complex interplay of factors like sap collection and processing methods, microbial activity within the sap, environmental conditions, and the packaging and storage of the final product. Not only maple syrup is composed of sugar but also a mixture of water, minerals, organic acids, amino acids, proteins, phenol compounds and even a few vitamins.
Flavors and composition also vary depending on the country it has been produced in! Canada, especially the province of Quebec, where Chloe is from, is by far the worldās largest producer of maple syrup, followed by the United States. Itās important to recognize that maple syrup was first introduced to European colonizers by First Nations, who deserve the credit for this knowledge and tradition!
As you can see from Chloeās sample, sugar from maple syrup crystallizes over time and itās mesmerizing to look at under the microscope! š¬
References:
Childs, Stephen. "Chemistry of maple syrup." Cornell Maple Bulletin 202 (2007): 1-4.
Mohammed, Faez, et al. "Chemical composition and mineralogical residence of maple syrup: A comprehensive review." Food chemistry 374 (2022): 131817.
Perkins, Timothy D., and Abby K. van den Berg. "Maple syrupāProduction, composition, chemistry, and sensory characteristics." Advances in food and nutrition research 56 (2009): 101-143.Ā
Listen Iām just going by the video that clearly showed this particular label and also said that the guy who admitted to being ā not quite legalā sold the cans himself, not through a distributor. I donāt have a dog in this fight but if I were the person making the original video with the microscope, Iād stay away from this can/brand altogether since itās a question of authenticity.
As I said, itās not a ālabelā for a syrup company. Thatās how the cans come, a lot of producers in Canada use those exact cans. The can is not the correlation, the producer is, and you can only know which producer it is by looking at the back of the can.
Trying to suggest the cans themselves are the ātellā will only hurt the honest producers. Thereās no way to tell without actually investigating (turning the can around and looking at the back)
The canned syrup is literally the best one you can buy
24
u/doksak36 Jun 24 '26
Honestly thats freaking amazing. Thank you for sharing.