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Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Maple trees can be tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap. The sap is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup. Maple syrup was first collected and used by the indigenous peoples of North America.The practice was adopted by European settlers, who gradually refined production methods. Technological improvements in the 1970s further refined syrup processing. The Canadian province of Quebec is by far the largest producer, responsible for about three-quarters of the world's output; Canadian exports of maple syrup exceed C$145 million (approximately US$130.5 million) per year. Vermont is the largest producer in the United States, generating about 5.5 percent of the global supply. Maple syrup is graded according to the Canada, United States, or Vermont scales based on its density and translucency. Sucrose is the most prevalent sugar in maple syrup. In Canada, syrups must be made exclusively from maple sap to qualify as maple syrup and must also be at least 66 percent sugar.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/guide/ch13e.shtml )〕 In the United States, a syrup must be made almost entirely from maple sap to be labelled as "maple", though states such as Vermont and New York have more restrictive definitions (see below). Maple syrup is often eaten with pancakes, waffles, French toast, or oatmeal and porridge. It is also used as an ingredient in baking, and as a sweetener or flavouring agent. Culinary experts have praised its unique flavour, although the chemistry responsible is not fully understood. == Sources == Three species of maple trees are predominantly used to produce maple syrup: the sugar maple (''Acer saccharum''), the black maple (''A. nigrum''), and the red maple (''A. rubrum''), because of the high sugar content (roughly two to five percent) in the sap of these species. The black maple is included as a subspecies or variety in a more broadly viewed concept of ''A. saccharum'', the sugar maple, by some botanists.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?314801 )〕 Of these, the red maple has a shorter season because it buds earlier than sugar and black maples, which alters the flavour of the sap. A few other (but not all) species of maple (''Acer'') are also sometimes used as sources of sap for producing maple syrup, including the box elder or Manitoba maple (''Acer negundo''), the silver maple (''A. saccharinum''),〔 and the bigleaf maple (''A. macrophyllum''). Similar syrups may also be produced from birch or palm trees, among other sources. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「maple syrup」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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