Maple syrup is more than just a prime pancake topper. It also helps kill bacterial pathogens, according to a recent paper in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

In Tufenkji’s study, maple syrup both increased the permeability of the bacterial outer membrane–such that more killer antibiotic gets inside the bacterial cell –and inhibited the activity of the bacterial efflux pumps–those tiny transport proteins that bacteria ordinarily use to toss internalized antibiotics out. This double whammy means that disease-causing bacteria can be effectively destroyed with markedly lower doses of antibiotics.

While it’s not known yet whether the maple syrup effect works in humans–all the experiments done to date were performed in petri dishes–the medical implications are hopeful. Most importantly, lowering the dosage of