The recipes for Maple Syrup include Guar Gum. I have seen many "gums" (Xantam, Guar, Carrageen, Cellulose, etc.) but can't seem to find info on:
1. Carbs in each
2. which is the best for syrups with natural or artificial ingredients
3. availability.

Xanthan gum, guar gum, carrageenan, and cellulose are almost all fiber so they're virtually carb free. Guar or xanthan gums are easier to find and available in natural food stores.

Xanthan can thicken either hot or cold liquids, but guar needs heat to thicken it. I think xanthan has a better texture than guar, but it's also more expensive. Both will thicken any liquid quite readily.

You may have had trouble finding info because of typos, depending on the search engine you're using.

Karen

I use xanthan in very small amounts as a stabilizer in cheese sauces (the cheese does the bulk of the thickening). There are a lot of people that like to use xanthan to thicken gravies. Even though I don't like it for gravies personally, I can see how it might be popular for that application. Once you start to enter the area of xanthan being utilized to provide the textural qualities of sugar, I think that's pushing it a bit. There are gums that have slight sugarlike qualities to them (acacia/cellulose), but xanthan and guar are definitely not one of them.

Unfortunately acacia and cellulose are almost impossible to find.

Most commercial sf pancake syrups use some form of non erythritol sugar alcohol. If your okay with SAs, those will give you the textural qualities you're looking for. Erythritol might make a good pancake syrup, although it will go cloudy (crystallize) when it cools. Polydextrose also will provide the textural qualities of sugar at a fraction of the carbs.

Great advice! I checked our favorite Maple Syrup (Log Cabin) and it has Malitol, Sorbitol and Cellulose Gum along with Splenda.

Specifically, I wanted to eventually nail down a recipe for making black raspberry syrup, blueberry, strawberry, etc. Last summer I canned 6pts of the raspberry with sugar and now I stare longingly at the bottles.

Polydextrose?? Never heard of that one. A polymerized sugar. Hmmm, sounds like what my pies do to the oven bottom!

Be careful on the canning. I am no expert, but I believe sugar helps with the preservation. Without sugar, you probably need to adjust the acid level or something to maintain safety.

Brobin