Processing of palm syrup

Palm syrup is a type of sweet syrup extracted from the sap of several varieties of palm trees, including coconut palms, date palms, sugar palms, and palmyra palms. When palm sap is produced to palm sugar syrup, it takes approximately 6-7 parts of sap to produce 1 liter of syrup. The palm tree sap, known as “guarapo”, is collected from the palm trees in the early spring, when temperatures fluctuate between - 5 and -10 ºC. A palm tree in excellent condition can produce up to twelve liters of guarapo a day.

Traditionally, palm sugar syrup is produced by evaporating the palm sap in a stove, an open pan or a metal kettle, and heated, using a wood fired stove, until it becomes concentrated. Mainly, 2 major reactions occur during the heating process of palm sap; Maillard reaction and caramelization

The unique flavor of this natural product develops during this evaporation process (93-110 ºC for 1.5 h). In commercial, an open pan and a kettle are still widely used by manufactures for producing maple syrup and palm sugar syrup.

The producer then determines the quality of the final product by the intensity of its brown color, and the thickness and viscosity of the liquid during the ongoing process. The resulting syrup is a viscous, dark with reddish tones. It is also incredibly rich and very sweet, making it ideal for many desserts. The thick substance is extremely sticky as well.

The product is removed from the pan to cool down and kept in a container for selling. The boiled sap can also be solidified and sold as bricks or cakes.

Palm syrup is most typically used in sweet foods like desserts, breads, pastries, and puddings, and it may be drizzled over various foods or mixed in as the food is prepared.

Palm syrups have a good nutritional value marked by high amounts of sugars (58—75 g/100 g fresh matter basis), minerals (2.1—2.6 g/100 g fresh matter basis) and phenolics (147.61—224.55 mg of ferulic acid equivalents/kg fresh weight).
Processing of palm syrup