Artificial flavors & Taste

Artificial flavors are added to manufactured foods to change or augment its taste (Flavouring). Nature-identical flavorings are the chemical equivalent of the natural flavor, but instead of being extracted from the source, they are synthesized chemically. The natural flavor must first be extracted from the source to produce artificial flavors. The concentrated flavor extract is then chromatographs in either liquid or gaseous form, which provides information on the structure of the molecule so that it can be artificially replicated chemically. Many flavor compounds are in the form of esters, and several esters are often mixed to produce a particular flavor. Some common flavors are: banana - isoamyl acetate; cinnamon - ethyl cinnamate; orange - octyl acetate; pineapple - methyl butyrate; pear - isoamyl butyrate; and wintergreen - methyl salicylate.

Anything with a smell has to contain a volatile ingredient and these are usually esters (How). The sense of taste recognizes only four tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter, so the sense of smell is needed to differentiate between more complex tastes. The top of the nasal passages contain an area of specialized neurons which come in contact with air and have hair-like projections on their surface to increase the surface area (How Does). Odor molecules bind to these cilia and cause the perception of smell. Many artificial flavors have just one or a few dominant chemical components which give off the taste/smell signal.

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c of a Concord grape but create a truer Concord grape flavor when used with methyl anthranilate. Acetophenone helps create a better Black Cherry flavor; pyridinemethanthiol helps create a better pork flavor; and acetaldehyde, ethyl butyrate and hexanal all add to the character of orange juice. Differential items are those which are not characteristic of the flavor, and do not enhance it but add something different and imaginative to it (Fischetti). For example, menthol in butterscotch flavor; cinnamon in a blueberry flavor; gamma nonalactone makes a nut flavor "nuttier;" several pyrazines make almonds have a toasted taste; hexanal, 2-nonenal make peanuts taste nuttier, and 2-ethyl-3-methylpyrazone makes them taste roasted. Esters make things taste fruitier, and butyl-2-deceneoate or hexanal give meat a fatty flavor, while 4 methyl nonanoic acid gives cheese a more "cheesy" flavor. Character impact groups make a large contribution to a particular flavor, e.g. methyl ketones, 2-heptanone and methyl amyl ketone give a blue cheese flavor; amines are used in fish and seafood; aliphatic esters such as ethyl isovalerate add to fruit flavors; phenyl acetic acid esters add to the flavor of honey; phenols give a smoky flavor; and ket

Category: Science - A