Characteristics of synthetic flavor

*Synthetic flavorings are usually less expensive and more plentiful than natural flavorings. On the other hand, natural flavorings are often more acceptable. However, they are quite complex and difficult to reproduce synthetically.

*Availability of synthetic flavoring at all the time. Their consistent supply assured at a reasonable cost. One of the problems with natural flavorings is that they may vary according to their season and their uncontrollable variance.

*Prepared in the laboratory.

*The composition of a synthetic flavorings could be precisely controlled, their aromatic profiles and physical form designed to meet specified consumer requirements or manufacturing parameter.

*Render a new taste to the product or to enhance the already existing flavor.
Characteristics of synthetic flavor

Aroma chemicals

Aroma chemicals are uniform compounds, which can be both of natural or synthetic origin. The aroma component of flavor is due to a complex mixture of volatile 0rganic chemicals. It comprise organic compounds with a defined chemical structure.

Aroma chemicals may be added directly to foods and beverages or used as raw materials in flavor compositions.

A simple flavor may have 100-300 volatile constituents such strawberry or grape. The thermal generation of volatiles during cooking and processing is one of the key mechanisms for the formation of aroma in food. Foods that are more complex in flavor, for example those resulting from Maillard reaction may contain 900 or more volatile constituents.

Other than Maillard reactions, there are other chemical reactions, including Strecker degradation, caramelization, the degradation of thiamin and ferulic acid and lipid oxidation.

They are partially lipid-soluble organic chemicals of low molecular weight. Many of these have been identified since the invention of gas chromatography.

There are nearly 7000 compounds of aroma chemicals in foods. Many of these aroma compounds are present naturally in foods while other are the result of fermentation, thermal processing or deteriorative reactions e.g. lipid oxidation.

Aroma chemicals

Flavoring Agents

Flavoring Agents
Flavoring agents are the largest single group of food additives. Food and beverage applications of flavors include dairy, fruit, nut, seafood, spice blends, vegetables and wine flavoring agents. They may complement, magnify, or modify the taste and aroma of the foods.

There are over 1200 different flavoring agents used in foods to create flavor or replenish flavors lost or diminished in processing, and hundreds of chemicals may be used to simulate nature flavors. Alcohols, esters, aldehydes, ketones, protein hydrolysates and MSG are examples of flavoring agents.

Natural flavoring substances are extracted from plants, herbs and spices, animals, or microbial fermentations. They also include essential oils and oleoresins (created by solvent extract with solvent removed), herbs, spices and sweetness.

Synthetic flavoring agents are chemically similar to natural flavorings, and offer increased consistency in use and availability. They may be less expensive and more readily available than the natural counterpart although they may not adequately simulate the natural flavor. Some examples of synthetic flavoring agents include amyl acetate, used as banana flavoring benzaldehyde, used to create cherry or almond flavor, ethyl butyrate for pineapple, methyl anthranilate for grape, methyl salicylate for wintergreen flavor, and fumaric acid, which is an ideal source of tartness and acidity in dry foods.

Flavor enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) intensify or “bring out,” enhance or supplement the flavor of other compounds in food; they have a taste outside of the basic sweet, sour, salty or bitter. Monosodium glutamate was chemically derived from seaweed in the early 1900s, but is manufactured commercially by the fermentation of starch, molasses, or sugar.
Flavoring Agents