Maple Syrup

#### Maple. Although it is a rather local specialty and not very widely applicable as a flavor material, **Maple**** ****Syrup **deserves some attention for its truly unique flavor character. Only the two species (**Acer Saccharum **and **Acer Nigrum**) from among hundreds of maples known are of commercial interest to syrup production. In springtime they produce a sap which contains up to 6 percent sugar. The balance is water, apart from minute traces of certain organic compounds which lend a typical flavor to the evaporated syrup. The sap is boiled down to a point—learned by experience—where it will stay liquid after cooling and yet not grow mold. Until a few years ago, little was known about the apparently powerful materials which were the flavor principles of maple syrup. Synthetic flavor chemicals like **Cyclotene **(hydroxy-methylcyclopentenone), **Maraniol**(4-methyl-7-ethoxycoumarin), various butylidene phthalides, or natural materials such as fenugreek, flouve, celery seed, lovage, etc. had been used both in-and outside America to imitate the flavor. Maple syrup is derived from a mere 2 million trees in upstate New York, Vermont, Maine and parts of south-eastern Canada, and it is hardly known outside the United States. There is only one crop per year, and a true maple syrup is hardly available in the months immediately prior to the new tapping (March-April). para-**Coniferaldehyde **(= 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy cinnamic aldehyde), also known as **"Maple**** ****Aide-**** ****hyde**", is apparently a natural oxidation product from coniferyl alcohol, which is gamma-hydroxyisoeugenol. This alcohol is widely prevalent in nature, e.g. in the form of a glycoside (abietin), a parent substance of the so-called lignin-vanillin. Coniferyl benzoate and coniferyl cinnamate are the main constituents of Siam benzoin and Sumatra benzoin, respectively. para-**Coniferaldehyde **may be one of the "key" materials by which reproduction of maple flavor may be effected. Unfortunately, this chemical has not yet been successfully synthesized. **Maple Syrup **is used extensively in the U.S.A. with pancakes, wafers, for confectionery, tobacco and on ice cream, etc. The consumption in the U.S.A. alone goes far beyond the production of natural maple syrup, and perhaps five or ten tons of artificial maple syrup is sold for each ton of natural syrup produced. The artificial syrup is base upon sugar syrup with the addition of the above mentioned natural and synthetic flavor materials.