Maple Facts
| The internal pressure of a sugar maple may be as much as 20 pounds per square inch on a warm day after a freezing night – the pressure is triggered by the thermal shock. It is the extent to which this pressure exists that determines how well sap will run. |
| 54 Beneficial Compounds Identified in Maple Syrup |
| Written by Emma Marvin |
| Monday, 04 April 2011 00:00 |
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Navindra Seeram, Assistant Professor at the University of Rhode Island has discovered 34 new beneficial compounds in pure maple syrup and confirmed that 20 compounds discovered last year in preliminary research play a key role in human health.
"I continue to say that nature is the best chemist, and that maple syrup is becoming a champion food when it comes to the number and variety of beneficial compounds found in it," Seeram said. "It's important to note that in our laboratory research we found that several of these compounds possess anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which have been shown to fight cancer, diabetes and bacterial illnesses."
"I can guarantee you that few, if any, other natural sweeteners have this anti-oxidant cocktail of beneficial compounds; it has some of the beneficial compounds that are found in berries, some that are found in tea and some that are found in flax seed. People may not realize it, but while we have a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in our food chain, maple syrup is the single largest consumed food product that is entirely obtained from the sap of trees," Seeram said.
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