Oligosaccharides From the Sap of Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum Marsh)

Abstract

From the sap of the sugar maple (Acer saccharz~riz Marsh) two trisaccharides have been isolated by column and paper chromatography. One was identified as 0-8-D-fructofuranosyl-(2 -+ 6)a-D-glucopyranosyl(1 -+ 2)b-D-fructofuratloside (6G-fructosylsucrose), the other was tentatively established as either 6"-fructosylsucrose or 1"-fructosylsucrose. These trisaccharides are not related in either composition or struct~lre to the polysaccharides present in the sap and wood.Maple sap is ltnown to contain mainly sucrose, the percentage of which varies from season to season and from tree to tree. I t was shown by Bois and Nadeau (I) that maple sap contains two enzymes, namely, "sucrogen-arnylase" and "cellobiogen-amylase" which transform starch into sucrose and cellobiose respectively. The claim of these workers was later refuted by Meeuse (2), who found that maple sap contains an enzyme which produces maltose from starch and not sucrose and cellobiose. Porter et al. (3) have demonstrated the presence of five oligosaccharides in addition to sucrose in maple sap. The sugars found on complete hydrolysis were glucose, fructose, and galactose, and the presence of raffinose and a glucosylsucrose was also indicated. Smith and Zavarin (4) have investigated the mono-and oligo-saccharides of the heartwood, sapwood, and bark of nine conifers and reported the presence of several monosaccharides, raffinose, stachyose, and two unidentified oligosaccharides. I n the foregoing investigations, identification of the sugars was based on chromatographic evidence and no information on the structure of the oligosaccharides was provided. The only proven structure for an oligosaccharide containing D-glucose and D-fructose from wood is that of 1"-fructosylsucrose isolated from aspen wood by Pridham (5). In the course of an investigation in this laboratory on the polysaccharides of maple sap (6), it was observed on paper chrolnatograms that there were some oligosaccharides in the sap which had R, values lower than that of sucrose. I t was thought worth while to investigate the structure of these oligosaccharides to shed soine light on their relationship to the polysaccharides of the sap and wood. T h e present paper describes the isolation of two trisaccharides and characterization of the major one.T h e sap was collected from a commercial stand of sugar maples in the first week of April 1960. Collection of the sap early in the season and fresh from the tree precluded significant bacterial containinatioil (7). T h e sap was immediately coilcentrated a t low 'Manuscri$t

Hollow Fiber Ultrafiltration of Maple Sap: A Performance Study

“…This behavior is attributed to pectic substances which are structurally different from protein. Composition of maple sap (Pouliot and Goulet, 1986) indicates the presence of polysaccharides which is confirmed by several authors (Porter et al, 1954;Haq and Adams, 1961).…”

“…The dry matter consists chiefly of sucrose (95%) and of other sugars (Marvin, 1957). Haq and Adams (1961) detected minute quantities of polysaccharides; traces of nitrogen compounds are also present (Pollard and Sproston, 1954). Except for some reports on the presence of enzymatic activities by Bois and Nadeau (1938) and Meusse (1949), no other data are available on the detailed chemical composition of this raw material, which is surprising, given its economic importance in Quebec, New England and Ontario.…”

Maple sap as a rich medium to grow probiotic lactobacilli and to produce lactic acid

“…The second major trisaccharide was tentatively identified as neokestose ( Fig. 2a) based on previous assignment made by Haq and Adams (1961) who also reported neokestose as a major trisaccharide in maple sap. Whereas the minor LC-MS peak with a r.t. at 30AE1 min was tentatively identified as raffinose as confirmed by Porter et al (1954) who reported the presence of this sugar based on detailed structural analysis of the trisaccharide in maple sap.…”

Metabolomics reveals chemical changes in Acer saccharum sap over a maple syrup production season

“…Fructose oligomers and polymers can also be found attached to sucrose. Fructosyl-sucrose, a fructan which accumulates in vacuoles and was reported in sugar maple sap in 1961 [ 42 ].…”