Tuesday, February 23, 2010

All you need to know about Natural Maple Syrup

Simply put, maple syrup is a natural sweetener that is made from the sap of maple wood. People often eat it with pancakes, waffles and even French toast. Other uses include desserts, sweets and aroma in the manufacture of beer. we enjoy many deals including maple maple cookie recipe. The Native Americans are credited for being the first to collect and make use of maple syrup. European settlers later adopted its use for their own purposes. 

Today, much of maple syrup production is done in North America and the product itself is most often associated with Canada. Actually comes about 80% of the world's maple syrup supply from Canada, with most of the production comes mainly from Quebec. However, maple syrup still happen anywhere, to maple trees grow, so long as the right weather conditions are present. Indeed, Vermont is also a major contributor to world supply and is considered the largest U.S. producer of syrups. Many kitchen cupboards are adorned with Canadian maple syrup. 

Syrup are usually taken from either sugar maple or black maple, because these two maple species have very high sugar content in their SAP. The type of syrup or depend on the type of wood, and there are many types like degree b maple syrup. Harvest SAP in the traditional manner means you must tap a maple tree and then pick up SAP in a bucket. However, this was a very labor-intensive method and required daily collection of SAP, so the producers found easier harvesting techniques such as installation of plastic pipelines. These pipelines allow SAP to flow directly into the sugar house where it is boiled to form maple syrup. 

Production often occurs between February and April, because the hot days and freezing nights of this period effectively induces flow of juice. It is estimated that 40 liters of juice is needed to produce one liter of syrup. As SAP is cooked, its density is measured with a hydrometer. The correct density of about 66% sugar to be reached, because a density that is too low will result in spoiling and a density that is too high, resulting in crystallization. Variations in the boiling process is also done to produce maple taffy, maple cream and maple butter. 

The good news for consumers is that maple syrup is not just sweet in taste, but it is too sweet for your health. This is because the syrup is a very good source of manganese and zinc. Manganese is an important antioxidant mineral and is also important in our body's natural production of energy. Zinc, in addition to being an antioxidant, also negates the harmful effects of oxidized fats and bad cholesterol in our hearts. These two minerals also help our immune system, and it's actually been demonstrated in several studies that a deficiency of zinc and manganese can weaken the immune system. 

Men can also enjoy a couple of health bonuses from maple syrup. In a human body, zinc is mostly found in prostate tissue, which means getting zinc from maple syrup can help you avoid prostate cancer. It has even been shown to reduce prostate size. For its part, a person's reproductive health manganese advantages because it has been shown to play an active role in the production of sex hormones.

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