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Use of flavours for enhancing taste and flavour in foods
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Tuesday, 12 October, 2021, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Ganesh Gaikwad & Pankaj Pawar
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The global food and beverages industry is made up of many segments, including groceries, oils and fats, food additives, functional foods and beverages, packaged foods, health and natural foods, canned food, baked food, baby food, animal food, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, energy drinks, and packaging.
The food flavours market is growing with the increase in demand for food. The growth of the natural flavours market segment depends on the consumers preference for natural and healthy food colours. This growth will be maintained in the future with finding new sources of raw materials, the launch of new products and using advanced technologies for flavour production.
Flavours are added to food products for:
- To create a new taste
- To mask less desirable flavours- to cover harsh or undesirable tastes
- To enhance, extend or increase the potency of flavours already present
- Stimulation of flavour perception of expensive flavours
- To supplement other more expensive/unbillable flavours
Fruit aroma consists of few hundreds to thousand compounds for example orange flavour contain more than 200 compounds ranging from simple phenolic to complex terpenoids, esters. Flavour of beverage must be identical to the fruit which is used as base material. Therefore, mimicking of fruit flavour in beverages is quite complex task and requires great expertise.
1. Aroma Compounds in Food
When food is consumed the interaction of taste, odour and textural feeling provides overall sensations which are commonly referred to as flavour. Flavour compounds classified into two groups: Those responsible for taste and those responsible for odour. The compounds which are responsible for the odor of food items are called as aroma substances. Aroma substance is otherwise called odorant, a chemical compound that has a smell or odour.
Aroma substances are volatile compounds which are perceived by the odour receptor sites of the smell organ (the olfactory tissue of the nasal cavity). Key odorants are the most important types of aroma compound which provide a characteristic aroma to a particular food. Aroma compounds play a significant role in the production of flavourants, which are used in the food industry to flavour, improve and increase the appeal of their products.
Aroma Compounds in Food
Alcohols benzyl alcohol (oxidizes to benzaldehyde, almond), ethyl maltol (cooked fruit), furaneol (strawberry), menthol (peppermint)
Aldehydes benzaldehyde (marzipan, almond), hexanal (green, grassy), cinnamaldehyde (cinnamon, citral (lemongrass, lemon oil), neral (citrus, lemongrass), vanillin (vanilla).
Amines cadaverine (rotting flesh), Indole (jasmine flowery), putrescine (rotting flesh), trimethylamine (fish)
Esters ethyl acetate (fruity), ethyl butanoate (fruity), fructone (fruity, apple-like), octyl acetate (orange), isoamyl acetate (banana), pentyl pentanoate (apple, pineapple)
Terpenes limonene (orange) and nerol (sweet rose)
2. Food Flavours:
Flavour is the sensory impression of a food and is determined by the chemical senses of taste and smell. Flavourant is defined as the edible chemicals and extracts that alter the flavour of food and food products through the sense of smell. Smell is the main determinant of a food item’s flavour. The taste of food is limited to sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savoury (umami) but the smell of a food is limitless. So, a food flavour can be easily altered by changing its smell while keeping its taste similar.
i. Natural Flavouring Substances:
Flavouring substances obtained from plant or animal raw materials, by physical, microbiological or enzymatic processes. They can be used in their natural state or processed for human consumption. To produce natural flavours, the flavourant first extracted from the source substance. The methods of extraction may be solvent extraction, distillation, or other physical forces. The extracts are then purified and subsequently added to food products.
ii. Nature-identical Flavouring Substances:
Flavouring substances that are produced by chemical synthesis which are chemically identical to natural flavouring substances present in food products intended for human consumption.
iii. Artificial Flavouring Substances:
To produce the artificial flavours, flavour manufacturers must both find out the individual naturally occurring aroma chemicals and mix them appropriately to produce a desired flavour or create a novel non-toxic artificial compound that gives a specific flavour. Natural flavours may contain toxins from their sources while artificial flavours are typically more pure and undergo more testing before being sold for consumption. Many artificial flavourants are esters.
Glutamic acid salts – Sodium salt of glutamic acid is called monosodium glutamate (MSG), one of the most commonly used flavour enhancers in food processing.
Flavour enhancers give food an extra dimension to food and drinks by intensifying the flavours of food and drinks. Since only very small quantities of flavour enhancers are used, it is not appropriate to discuss the nutritional value in terms of energy, proteins, fats, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. However when alcoholic beverages are used in hot sauces and such, the alcohol evaporates off and there is then no question of nutritional value. For example, monosodium glutamate known as MSG, is added to processed foods, especially soups, sauces and sausages.
(Gaikwad is research scholar, College of Food Technology, VNMKV, Parbhani. Pawar is assistant professor, Department of Food Processing, Preservation and Storage, Maharashtra Mahavidyalaya Nilanga. They can be reached at ganeshpg107@gmail.com)
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