Organic Maple Cooperative
919 Front Street
Cashton, WI 54619
tel 1.800.760.1449
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Nutrition Information
Nat. Maple Syrup Digest 14 (2). July 1975. p.130
NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF PURE MAPLE SYRUP
Marianfranca Morselli, Ph.D.
Research Associate, Department of Botany
Proctor Maple Research Farm
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.
Pure maple syrup is a “natural” food, processed by heat concentration of pure maple sap, which is the nutrient liquid used by the plant for the annual growth of its tissues. In the boiling, concentrating and filtering process the nutrients remain in the syrup (2,3,5). There are quantitative differences in the syrup’s
nutritive composition, to due metabolic and environmental differences among maple trees and differences in the methods of sap collecting and syrup processing (5). The packaged pure maple syrups contain most of the substances useful in the human diet (4):
Sugars: Are an important source of energy. The main sugar in pure maple syrup is sucrose, which is the sole sugar in the Fancy grade syrups. The darker grades of syrup contain a small and variable amount of fructose and glucose (2,3,5). In order of sweetness, sucrose is less sweet than fructose, slightly sweeter than glucose. Maple syrup caloric value is 40 calories per tablespoon, equal to molasses, while corn syrup’s caloric value is 60 per tablespoon, and honey’s is 45 per tablespoon (5,6).
Minerals:
Have specific and nonspecific nutritional functions in the body metabolism. In pure filtered maple syrup the main minerals present are: calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, iron (2,3,5).
Vitamins:
Are essential to maintain health; they cannot be manufactured by the body (except Vit. D) so they must be acquired through food or taken separately.In maple syrup trace amounts of vitamins are present, mainly B2 (riboflavin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), PP (niacin), biotin and folic acid (1).
Amino Acids:
Are the building blocks of the proteins. In maple syrup, many amino acids are present in trace amounts (5).
1. Hannawacker, Marianne. 1969. Ph. D. Thesis. Darmstadt, D. 17.
2. Leaf, A.L. 1964. Science. 143:963-964.
3. Maple Syrup Producers Manual. Rev. 1971. USDA Agr. Res. Serv. Agr. Handbook 134.
4. Robinson, C.H. 1967. Proudfit-Robinson’s Normal and Therapeutic Nutrition. MacMillan, N.Y.
5. Unpublished data. 1974. The Proctor Maple Research Farm, Botany Dept., University of Vermont.
6. Watt, B.K. and A.L. Merrill. 1963. Composition of Foods. USDA Agr. Handbook No. 8.
