Author(s)

Abby K. van den Berg¹, Timothy D. Perkins¹, Mark L. Isselhardt²

¹Proctor Maple Research Center, The University of Vermont, Underhill, VT, USA.
²The University of Vermont Extension, Underhill, VT, USA.

Reverse osmosis is used widely in the maple syrup industry to concentrate maple sap and increase the overall efficiency and profitability of syrup production. Sets of samples from maple producers utilizing a range of sap concentration levels were collected and analyzed to provide a portrait of the physicochemical properties and chemical composition of maple sap, concentrate, and permeate across a single production season. The results reinforce that reverse osmosis functions essentially as a concentration process, without significantly altering the fundamental proportions of sap constituents.

Maple Syrup, Reverse Osmosis, Membrane Separation, Maple Sap

van den Berg, A. , Perkins, T. and Isselhardt, M. (2019) Composition and Properties of Maple Sap, Concentrate, and Permeate. Agricultural Sciences, 10, 32-45. doi: 10.4236/as.2019.101004.