ALBANY, NY — As farmers and others head into the “sugarbush” in the Northeast this spring, it’s been noted that reverse osmosis (RO), the technology associated with drinking water treatment, is being turned to by the maple syrup industry as a processing alternative, several recent news reports indicate.

New York state government created a Maple Task Force this week to look at ways to help the industry meet growing world demand for maple syrup and maple sugar, the Watertown (NY) Daily Times reported March 26. The article quoted task force member and maple producer Jeanne Packer saying that RO technology “can drastically shorten the processing time for maple syrup, enabling the producers to tap more trees.”

Packer told the Daily Times that only 20 percent of New York’s maple houses — rural businesses that tap maple trees and produce syrup on site — now use RO, “owing to its great expense.”

In the traditional method, maple syrup is produced by boiling sap tapped from the sugar maple tree or other maple tree varieties. Boiling removes water from the sap and concentrates its sugars to produce the familiar syrup. A very large amount of tree sap must be boiled over many hours to produce syrup suitable for sale in grocery stores.

Some maple syrup producers have learned that reverse osmosis can also remove water from the sap. The Lincoln (MA) Journal noted in a March 26 article that, based on its interviews at a demonstration farm that produces syrup, “Commercial producers are now turning to new technology to reduce costs, saving on boiling by using alternative techniques such as reverse osmosis.”

In New Hampshire, the Union Leader quoted Weare, NH, syrup producer Dave Richards as saying he uses an RO device to help extract water from sap and increase syrup sugar content.

To read the full Watertown Daily Times article, click here.

To read the full Lincoln Journal article, click here.

To read the full Union Leader article, click here.

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