Mass Spectrometric Determination of Cane Sugar and Corn Syrup in Maple Syrup by Use of 13C/12C Ratio: Collaborative Study

Abstract Use of C3 carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation cycle by the sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), a dicotyledenous plant, and C4 carbon fixation cycle by 2 monocotyledenous plants, corn and cane, results in a physiological discrimination between 13C and 12C isotopes. Therefore, determination of 13C/12C ratio of maple syrup by mass spectrometry can be used to detect adulteration with cane and corn sugars. Four samples of pure maple syrup and 3 adulterated maple syrup samples were analyzed in a collaborative study. Results indicate that stable carbon isotope analysis can determine authenticity of maple products. Samples with δ13C values less negative than – 23.49%c (parts per thousand) can, with a high degree of confidence (95%), be classified as adulterated. The method has been adopted official first action.