Bottled Maple Sap

Abstract

Producing maple syrup (66.0 to 68.9 °Brix) from maple sap with approximately 2 °Brix requires extensive energy and labor. A lower input option is to market maple sap as a commercial beverage for consumers. On average, about 44 gallons of sap are required to produce one gallon of maple syrup. One gallon of syrup has a gross value of about $120 if sold in 16 oz retail containers. If instead of being processed into syrup, the maple sap was processed into 16 oz bottles of drinkable sap sold at$3 each, $1,056 of revenue could be generated from the same 44 gallons of sap; this represents a 780% increase in sales revenue. Maple sap is harvested in eastern North America during thawing temperatures from January to April each year. For maple syrup production, sap is typically processed into syrup soon after harvest as sap is a perishable product susceptible to bacteria, yeast, and mold contamination across the season. To preserve maple sap quality, care must be taken to ensure it has not spoiled or interacted with any potential contaminants, including lead and sanitizer residues. Once maple sap is harvested, it can be processed and packaged using multiple techniques, each of which ensure the product maintains quality and safety for consumers. This article reviews the benefits of maple sap as a bottled beverage while covering preservation and packaging methods, regulatory guidelines, and overview of commercial production procedures.Funding for project was made possible by a grant agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA