The Citrus Fruits

The Citrus Fruits
This genus of the family Rutaceae includes lemon, orange (both sweet and bitter), mandarin (or tangerine), lime and grapefruit in addition to very many other fruits which are pleasant to eat but which are not of great importance commercially.

Through out the world the citrus fruits are appreciated and in many cases form a valuable part of the diet as a source of vitamin C. Those grades which are not suitable for domestic use are generally processed in the growing regions to yield either the juice which may be further processes to give concentrates, or for the essential oil which is obtained from the peels.

Citrus Oil
In all citrus fruits the essential oil is contained in numerous, oval, balloon-shape oil sacs or gland situated irregular just below the surface of the colored portion of the peel – the flavedo. The white mesocarp or albedo does not contain any oil sacs but carries the bitter glycoside such as hesperidin in lemons, oranges and tangerines or naringin in grapefruit.

The essential oils are generally mechanically extracted from the peels. It is not only the citrus fruits but also the flowers and leaves of citrus plants which are of considerable value in the compounding of fragrances and to a lesser extent in the formulation of imitation flavors. The essential oil distilled from the leaves is known as oil of petitgrain and that from the flowers, oil of neroli.
The Citrus Fruits

Spices Flavoring

Spices Flavoring
The soft-stemmed plant materials used in seasoning food are classified as “herbs” and all other aromatic plants products used for a similar purpose are called spices, although this broad definition admits of several exceptions.

Spices are usually only parts of plants and may be either roots, rhizomes, barks, seeds, fruits, flower buds etc. Unlike herbs the spices are very aromatic and may contain large percentages of essential oil as well as the powerful non volatile flavoring components. They are normally derived from the semi-tropical or tropical regions of the world, are harvested and usually sun dried to form the spice of commerce.

Condiments are seasonings which are added to food after it has been served. In this category the most popular and widely used are salt, mustard, pepper and ginger.
Spices Flavoring

Aromatic profile

Aromatic profile

Much have been published on the history, nature and processing of herbs, species and other aromatic plant materials used as food flavorings but one subject which has received little attention is that their sensory characteristics.

What do they actually smell and taste like? What quantitative and qualitative contribution can one expect them to give to the total flavor complex of any product which they are used? How can one describe the observable differences in aroma and flavor? The absence of any really informative articles covering this important aspect of flavoring is not surprising when one realizes how extremely difficult it is to achieve meaningful descriptions or well known but purely sensory effects (for example flavor of banana).

Certain descriptive terms have become well established by use and understood by the majority of these like to be called upon to evaluate aromatic materials, generally, however, the mere reading of a descriptive profile gives little idea of the effect obtained. It is fair to say that no color-of flavor can yet be describe verbally in any language in such a way that the uninitiated layman immediately recognize and visualize the material and be able to identify it when presented with a sample.

Even the individual words used do not necessarily convey the correct impression. For instance, one may have a reasonably clear understanding of the word “aromatic” as something which has both a hedonic and nonhedonic connotations; i.e., it is both pleasing and sweet. In the other hand, the term “green’” which are also very frequently used in describing aromas and flavors, is far less precise, ranging from the effect one associates with freshly cut grass to that of damp leaves or even of freshly cut garden herbs; all of which are quite different.

This problem is accentuated when one has to translate terms into other languages. Frequently, a single world replacement is not understood may, in fact, give totally wrong impression. In most cases one has to carry out an evaluation at first hand in order to appreciate fully the differences in aromatic character or create a picture of the total profile.

Aromatic profile