HEALTHY BEVERAGES: Palm syrup - sweet syrup from palm trees
Palm syrup - sweet syrup from palm trees
Many palm species have been tapped throughout the tropical world in order to produce fresh juice, fermented drinks (such as toddy, wine, arak), syrup ("honey"), brown sugar (jaggery) or refined sugar.
Palm honey or palm syrup is from naturally grown palm trees. It is produced by boiling collected sap until it thickens. Most of this syrup is locally consumed and traditionally processed as the bottled palm juice, palm wine, and palm sugar.
Uses of palm saps differ depending on region, palm tree and culinary traditions. It is converted, in some cases, to syrup ‘honey’ or brown sugar ‘jaggery’ which are used like a sweetener for some food preparations.
Palm syrup is high caloric content has led to its increasing use as a health food supplement for athletes, children and elderly. The demand for this natural syrup is continuously increasing due also to its medicinal uses in homeopathic medicine.
In the tropics, palm sap is drunk as such (fresh, or pasteurized and bottled), evaporated for palm syrup and sugar, or fermented to alcohol and vinegar. Palm sap is also a source of yeast for bread making. Fresh sap is sweet, oyster white color and translucent, with nearly neutral pH.
Palm syrup has been traditionally produced from the sap of the several varieties of tropical palm tree including coconut palms, date palms, sugar palms, and palmyra palms.
Labels: palm honey, palm syrup