iGEM ULaval 2021 - Main page

a
Solution
Against maple
Polymers

Maple syrup. It’s one of the things Canada is globally known for. An emblem of Canadian culture. In 2021 alone, Canada produced 45 million liters of maple syrup.
That means

600M

Canadian dollars

0%

of global maple syrup production

How It’s Made

This syrup is produced with the sap of the sugar maple tree. To harvest this sap, producers have to wait for very special weather conditions that only happen in spring in Canada and the Northern United States.

After the sap is collected, it is boiled and reduced to make the sticky sweet syrup Canadians know and love.

There’s a Problem, Though:

Sometimes, bacteria creates polymers in the syrup. These polymers are dextrans: very long sugar molecules that ruin the syrup’s taste and texture. When this occurs, it creates ropy maple syrup.

This syrup cannot be sold, and so producers must pay for it to be destroyed, creating a waste of food, energy and money.

Team iGEM ULaval’s Solution

We’re making a treatment to put into the barrels of ropy syrup to make it usable again for producers.

This project was in the Top 2 Overgrad Food & Nutrition projects for igem 2021! Don't feel like reading more? Go check out our Project Presentation! It earned us a spot in the Top 10 Overgrad Presentation Videos!