Detection of Inulin, a Prebiotic Polysaccharide, in Maple Syrup

Abstract

Maple syrup is a widely consumed plant-derived natural sweetener produced by concentrating xylem sap collected from certain maple (Acer) species. During thermal evaporation of water, natural phytochemical components are concentrated in maple syrup. The polymeric components from maple syrup were isolated by ethanol precipitation, dialysis, and anion exchange chromatography and structurally characterized by glycosyl composition analysis, glycosyl linkage analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Among the maple syrup polysaccharides, one neutral polysaccharide was characterized as inulin with a broad molecular weight distribution, representing the first isolation of this prebiotic carbohydrate from a xylem sap. In addition, two acidic polysaccharides with structural similarity were identified as arabinogalactans derived from rhamnogalacturonan type I pectic polysaccharides.

Effect of Pre-Extraction on Composition of Residual Liquor Obtained from Catalytic Organosolv Pulping of Sugar Maple Bark

“…In an effort to valorize byproducts of wood transformation (barks and wood), produced in huge quantities by the Canadian forest industry, our research group has studied the extractives and organosolv lignins from sugar maple wood and bark. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is one of the most important Canadian forest species, not only for the high quality of its greatly appreciated wood for numerous applications, but also for the production of sap, which is used for the production of maple syrup [17]. Extraction of sugar maple bark using hot water had demonstrated the ability to extract the important phenolic compounds along with a complex sugar in our previous study [18].…”

Recent trends and applications of polysaccharides for microencapsulation of probiotics

“…Inulin is basically a linear fructan (polysaccharide in nature) composed of fructosyl units [β(2→1)linkage] and usually contains one terminal glucose moiety [α(1→2)linkage] per molecule (Sun, Ma, Seeram, & Rowley, 2016). Inulin is composed of oligo‐ and polysaccharides having fructose monomers linked by glycosidic linkages with β‐configurations at anomeric C2 and this β‐configuration makes inulin resistant to hydrolysis by human gastrointestinal enzymes (Pontes et al., 2016).…”

Anti-glycation and anti-oxidative effects of a phenolic-enriched maple syrup extract and its protective effects on normal human colon cells

“…During the evaporation process, natural phenolic compounds originally present in the tree xylem sap, as well as process-derived compounds, are concentrated in maple syrup along with vitamins, amino acids, organic acids, simple sugars (primarily, sucrose,) as well as complex carbohydrates such as inulin. 15, 16 Maple syrup contains a wide variety of phenolic constituents 17–19 and in our group’s ongoing research on this natural product, 16, 18–21 we have developed a phenolic-enriched maple syrup extract (MSX) for nutraceutical applications which is well-tolerated and non-toxic to rats (at doses of up to 1000 mg/kg/day). 20 Phenolic-enriched extracts of maple syrup have been reported to show antioxidant 18 , anti-diabetic, 20–22 anticancer, 23 anti-inflammatory 24, 25 , and neuroprotective 26, 27 properties in vitro.…”