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Maple syrup is said to be Quebec, Canada’s liquid gold. Now scientists at the Université de Montréal (UdeM) have found a way to use real gold, in the form of nanoparticles, to quickly discover how syrup tastes.
The new method, a kind of artificial language, is validated in a study published today (May 5) in Analytical methods, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry, in the United Kingdom.
The “tongue” is a colorimetric test that detects changes in color to show how a sample of maple syrup tastes. The result is visible to the naked eye in seconds and is useful for producers.
“The artificial language is simpler than the human language: it cannot distinguish the complex flavor profiles that we can detect,” said UdeM professor of chemistry, Jean-François Masson, who led the study. “Our device works specifically to detect flavor differences in maple syrup as it is produced.”
1,818 syrup samples analyzed
The artificial language was validated by analyzing 1,818 maple syrup samples from different regions of Quebec. The syrups that were analyzed represented the various aromatic profiles and known colors of the syrup, from gold to dark brown.
“We designed the ‘tongue’ at the request of Quebec maple syrup producers to detect the presence of different flavor profiles,” explained Simon Forest, the study’s first author. “The tool takes into account the olfactory and flavor properties of the product.”
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Maple syrup has a molecular complexity similar to that of wine. Its flavor is delicate, without bitterness, and it has a subtle aroma. During the production process, specialized human tasters are used to judge which profile each batch fits into.
“The development of artificial language is intended to support the colossal work that is being done in the field to quickly make the first selection of syrups and classify them according to their qualities,” Masson said.
Red for the best, blue for the rest
The researchers compare the artificial tongue with a pH test for a pool. Just pour a few drops of syrup into the gold nanoparticle reagent and wait about 10 seconds.
If the result stays in the red spectrum, it has the characteristics of a premium quality syrup, the type most loved by consumers and sold in supermarkets or exported.
If, on the other hand, the test turns blue, the syrup may have a “flaw” in taste, which can be treated as an industrial syrup for use in processing.
“It doesn’t mean that the syrup is not good for consumption or that it has a different sugar level,” Masson said of the “blue” syrup, which the food industry uses as a natural sweetener in other products. “It may not have the usual desired characteristics, so it cannot be sold directly in bottles to consumers.”
60 taste categories
Caramelized, Woody, Green, Smoked, Salty, Burnt – Maple Syrup flavor has up to 60 categories to fit. Maple syrup is essentially a concentrated sugar solution of 66 percent sucrose and 33 percent water; the remaining one percent of other compounds determines the flavor.
Like wine, the flavor of maple syrup changes based on a variety of factors, including the harvest period, region, production and storage methods, and, of course, the climate. Too much variation in temperature over a weekend, for example, can greatly affect the flavor profile of the product.
The artificial language developed at the UdeM could one day be adapted to taste wine or fruit juice, Masson said, as well as being useful in other agri-food contexts.
– This press release was originally published on Udem Nouvelles
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