Maple sap and syrup exhibits antioxidant activity, inhibits nitric oxide overproduction and has antiproliferative activity against cancer cells. - GreenMedInfo Summary

Abstract Antioxidant activity, inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) overproduction, and antiproliferative effect of ethyl acetate extracts of maple sap and syrup from 30 producers were evaluated in regard to the period of harvest in three different regions of Québec, Canada. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values of maple sap and syrup extracts are, respectively, 12 +/- 6 and 15 +/- 5 mumol of Trolox equivalents (TE)/mg. The antioxidant activity was also confirmed by a cell-based assay. The period of harvest has no statistically significant incidence on the antioxidant activity of both extracts. The antioxidant activity of pure maple syrup was also determined using the ORAC assay. Results indicate that the ORAC value of pure maple syrup (8 +/- 2 mumol of TE/mL) is lower than the ORAC value of blueberry juice (24 +/- 1 mumol of TE/mL) but comparable to the ORAC values of strawberry (10.7 +/- 0.4 mumol of TE/mL) and orange (10.8 +/- 0.5 mumol of TE/mL) juices. Maple sap and syrup extracts showed to significantly inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced NO overproduction in RAW264.7 murine macrophages. Maple syrup extract was significantly more active than maple sap extract, suggesting that the transformation of maple sap into syrup increases NO inhibition activity. The highest NO inhibition induced by the maple syrup extracts was observed at the end of the season. Moreover, darker maple syrup was found to be more active than clear maple syrup, suggesting that some colored oxidized compounds could be responsible in part for the activity. Finally, maple syrup extracts (50% inhibitory concentration = 42 +/- 6 mug/mL) and pure maple syrup possess a selective in vitro antiproliferative activity against cancer cells.