Quebecol, a novel phenolic compound isolated from Canadian maple syrup

• Main Authors: Liya Li, Navindra P. Seeram
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2011-04-01
• Series: Journal of Functional Foods
• Subjects: Maple syrup; Acer; Phenolics; Process-derived; Biological activities
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464611000090

The province of Quebec in Canada leads the world’s production of maple syrup, a natural sweetener obtained by thermal evaporation of sap collected from maple (Acer) species. As part of our laboratory’s detailed chemical investigation of Canadian maple syrup, a novel phenolic compound, 2,3,3-tri-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-propanol, assigned the common name of quebecol, was obtained. Quebecol was isolated using a combination of chromatographic methods and identified by detailed 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectral (MS) analyses. Liquid chromatography mass spectral (LC-MS) analyses revealed that quebecol is not originally present in maple sap. This observation, as well as the lack of a feasible biosynthetic pathway to explain its origin, suggests that quebecol is formed during the processing and/or extraction of maple syrup. Thus, the identification and biological evaluation of non-natural, process-derived compounds in maple syrup are warranted since such molecules may contribute towards the biological activities reported for this natural sweetener.