News

  • Maple Foods Beyond Syrup Maple Sap Water, An Emerging Functional Beverage Webinar - Maple water is one of the newest rehydrating drinks on the market, joining the ranks of coconut water, and other “functional beverages”. Explore the science behind maple water, how it’s made, its sustainability, and its potential health benefits. This webinar will include Kate Weiler, the Co-Founder of Drink Simple, Dr, Navindra Seeram, Professor and Chair […]
  • The Rhode Islander Recipe on Drink Simple’s Blog - Named after the favorite drink of Dr. Navindra Seeram of University of Rhode Island, this drink is not only delicious, but packs a phytonutrient punch of antioxidants, minerals and polyphenols.  Dr. Seeram has studied the impressive nutrient content of both maple water and cranberries. He loves that both crops are very sustainable and native to […]
  • Webinar – Maple Foods Beyond Syrup: Maple Sap Water, An Emerging Functional Beverage - Wednesday, December 01, 2021 at 6:00pm to 7:30pm Maple water is one of the newest rehydrating drinks on the market, joining the ranks of coconut water, and other “functional beverages”. Explore the science behind maple water, how it’s made, its sustainability, and its potential health benefits.  This webinar will include Kate Weiler, the Co-Founder of […]
  • ‘Plant-based Botox’: maple leaf extract could spawn anti-wrinkle cream - Compounds found in maple leaves that might be a key ingredient in the next trendy anti-wrinkle cream. “We believe it could have cosmetic applications,” said University of Rhode Island researcher Navindra Seeram, who is studying the compounds called glucitol-core-containing gallotannins. GCGs appear to be able to interfere with elastase, the enzyme that breaks down the […]
  • Sweet Talk with Dr. Seeram – Maple and Human Health - The Cornell Maple Program’s Sweet Talk shares “the latest research, news, and trends in the maple industry, with various guests including other maple researchers, industry experts, and local sugarmakers.” In this podcast, Dr. Seeram talks about his maple research and maple products’ health benefits.  
  • A Sap-y Story: From Indigenous Peoples to five-star hotels, maple is the sweetener of the moment - Each spring, hundreds of farmers put taps in thousands of trees and collect the magical elixir that is derived from their xylem- sap. This sap is then boiled down at a ratio of 40:1 and transformed into what has become one of the world’s favorite flavorings – maple syrup.
  • Professor Navindra Seeram Secures $491,350 in USDA Funding for Maple Water Research and Promotion - The United States Department of Agriculture’s Acer Access and Development Program recently awarded $491,350 to Navindra Seeram, professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, College of Pharmacy for his maple water research and promotion. The funded research aims to increase consumer awareness of maple water products. More details are available through here.
  • More Than a Sweet Treat! The Dynamic Chemistry of Maple Syrup with Dr. Navindra Seeram - In this most recent interview, Dr. Navindra Seeram discusses maple chemistry and shares his ongoing research projects that aim to develop nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products from maple.  
  • The NutraIngredients-USA Editors’ choice: Navindra Seeram, PhD and the Health Benefits of Maple Syrup - The University of Rhode Island Professor Dr. Navindra Seeram has been recognized by NutraIngredients-USA as a 2020 top choice researcher, because of his groundbreaking findings of maple products and their health benefits. You can listen to Dr. Seeram’s podcast below, where he highlights some of the exciting findings his laboratory has made.         
  • Sweet Discoveries From Maple: Medicines, Beauty, and More with Dr. Navindra Seeram, PhD. - Dr. Navindra Seeram’s research group in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island is a global leader in maple health benefits research. This webinar featured his group’s research on maple sap and syrup as well as parts of the maple tree that are being explored for cosmetic and nutraceutical applications.  
  • Invited Webinar Presentation on 10/27/2020: “Sweet Discoveries from Maple” - Since May due to COVID-19 restrictions for in-person educational programming, URI Cooperative Extension has been hosting weekly educational webinars on topics of interest to Rhode Islanders. Dr. Navindra Seeram has been invited to give an educational webinar presentation entitled “Sweet Discoveries from Maple” on October 27, 2020. This webinar will feature his group’s research on maple […]
  • Our Maple Research is Featured on the American Chemical Society’s Facebook Page - One of our maple studies is just featured on the American Chemical Society’s Facebook page, and the post reads: “Happy #CanadaDay! Maple syrup is more than meets the eye. Read our 2014 article on the bioactive compounds in syrups, including some never discovered before. http://ow.ly/RmQE30qVq3C”    
  • NutraCast Podcast: Navindra Seeram, PhD on the Health Benefits of Maple
  • Maple Syrup is a Sweet Story of Spring - For great flavor as well as nutritional benefits, substitute syrup for sugar when preparing family meals. Researchers have documented that maple syrup is the most nutritious common sweetener. Scientists at the University of Rhode Island describe the sticky sap as a good source of unique compounds and antioxidants that can improve immunity, reduce inflammation, prevent […]
  • 6 Anti-inflammatory Foods You Should Be Eating - 2. Maple Syrup That’s right, Canada’s pride and joy (no, not Celine Dion this time) is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties, according to a University of Rhode Island study. Um, how exactly? “Scientists have identified more than 67 different plant compounds, or polyphenols, nine of which are unique to pure maple syrup. One of these polyphenols, […]
  • Maple: The Smarter Sweetener - Professor Navindra Seeram, Ph.D., has been studying the health benefits of maple since 2009. His research focuses on investigating medicinal plants and their derived natural products for preventive and therapeutic effects against chronic human diseases. He has studied the health benefits of several antioxidant and polyphenol-rich foods including berries, tart cherries, and pomegranates. In 2009, […]
  • Unlocking Maple’s Untapped Potential, Part II - August 19, 2019: Earlier this summer, JWU Providence’s Food Innovation Design Lab (FIDL) was filled with the irrestistible smell of maple syrup. Six summer interns were working at breakneck speed to push the boundaries of the natural sweetener’s culinary and commercial potential.
  • JWU, FIX and URI Join Forces to Unlock Maple’s Untapped Potential - August 2, 2019: If you think of maple as an ingredient at all, there’s a high probability that your first thought is to envision it in syrup form, drizzled liberally over pancakes. But have you ever thought of maple as a hero ingredient? Natural products derived from it contain dozens of compounds with potential health and wellness […]
  • URI, JWU and FIX combine to unlock power of ‘The Smarter Sweetener’ - Students from around the region created tasty treats and demonstrated innovative uses of a local crop that shows promising health benefits as they demonstrated the culinary — and medicinal — versatility of maple.    
  • The Story of Maple - May 2, 2019: Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN, best selling author and nationally recognized health expert, blogs about maple from Coombs Family Farms, the largest organic maple producer in the country.
  • ‘Professor Maple’ talks about the latest science and info on all things maple – podcast - May 2, 2019: INSIDER's Steve Myers talks to Navindra Seeram, Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, about the science behind maple in human health at the 2nd Annual Maple Symposium.
  • Could sugar be good for you? - November 8, 2018: Sugar could have healing properties. Natural sugar, known chemically as sucrose, can be found in plants. Take maple syrup for example; you may think pancakes, but others are thinking medicine.
  • The Sweet Science - November 1, 2018: Researchers at URI are tapping into the potential of RI’s state tree – the maple. Hard of wood, tall of stature, and a leaf-peeper’s delight come fall, the maple is the national symbol of Canada, the state tree of Rhode Island, and the only tree adopted as a mascot by a professional hockey team. As hinted in its scientific name, A. saccharum, the sugar maple also is the prime source for the maple syrup we pour onto our morning pancakes.
  • URI researchers plan to triple northeast sales of maple products from $9.7 to $29.4 million - October 23, 2018: A new, federally funded initiative at the University of Rhode Island will promote the maple industry throughout the Northeast, stressing the sustainability and market value of this local crop and the potential health benefits of maple food products. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Acer Access and Development Program has awarded nearly […]
  • Maple leaf extract could nip skin wrinkles in the bud - August 20, 2018: Maple trees are best known for their maple syrup and lovely fall foliage. But it turns out that the beauty of those leaves could be skin-deep — and that’s a good thing. Today, scientists report that an extract from the leaves may prevent wrinkles.
  • The All-Natural Added Sugar With an Impressive Nutrient Profile - July 2018: With exciting research on nutrient content, a new grading system, and modern sanitary production methods, maple syrup with all its richness isn’t just for breakfast anymore.
  • $620,000 in USDA funding for maple research - February 13, 2018: The United States Department of Agriculture has awarded two University of Rhode Island researchers $470,000 to advance their pioneering work exploring the anti-inflammatory properties of maple syrup phytochemicals. Navindra Seeram and Angela Slitt, associate professors of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences in the College of Pharmacy, are co-investigators on the two-year project. The […]
  • Private support advances research on medicinal properties of maple trees - November 1, 2017: While the maple tree is known for delicious syrup, researchers at URI have discovered that maple trees provide much more than a way to make breakfast taste better. In its branches, leaves, and sap, maple species, including Rhode Island’s state tree, the red maple, may be the key to regulating blood glucose […]
  • Fall Color In-Depth: Maple Trees Offer New Answers to Diabetes, Alzheimer’s - September 24, 2017: In the 1992 film Medicine Man, biochemist Robert Campbell, played by actor Sean Connery, searches for new drugs in the Amazon’s vast rainforests. There Campbell finds a cure for cancer not in the rainforest’s rare flowers – which don’t have “juju,” or the power to heal – but in an indigenous ant […]
  • Quebecol American Chemical Society Molecule of the Week - Jul 14, 2014: Most maple syrup is made from the sap of the sugar maple (Acer saccharum). About 80% of the world’s syrup comes from Quebec, so it was natural that when N. P. Seeram and co-workers at the University of Rhode Island (Kingston) isolated a previously unknown phenolic alcohol from the syrup, they named it […]
  • ACS Meeting News: Looking Beyond The Sugars In Sweeteners - April 14, 2014: Natural sweeteners maple syrup, agave, and honey are complex mixtures with bioactive components that might confer health benefits. Maple syrup, agave, and honey are well-known for their roles as sweeteners. As such, their primary constituents are simple sugars such as sucrose and fructose. But scientists exploring the composition of these sweeteners are […]
  • Science and maple according to Dr Navindra Seeram - November 20, 2013: Meet Dr Navindra Seeram, Assistant professor at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island (URI).
  • 54 Beneficial Compounds Discovered in Pure Maple Syrup - March 30, 2011: University of Rhode Island researcher Navindra Seeram has discovered 34 new beneficial compounds in pure maple syrup and confirmed that 20 compounds discovered last year in preliminary research play a key role in human health. Today at the 241st American Chemical Society’s National Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. the URI assistant pharmacy professor is telling scientists from around the world that his URI team has now isolated and identified 54 beneficial compounds in pure maple syrup from Quebec, five of which have never been seen in nature.