Recreating Flavors from Nature

Chiral chemistry and advanced technologies produce natural flavors with key nuances and artificial flavors that duplicate the taste and aroma of natural flavors.

Food Technology Magazine | Article

Charles Manley

The creation of flavors has always involved both the artistry of the flavorist and the science of the chemist. Creation of a flavor that smells and tastes close to nature has been an ongoing challenge for decades. Flavorists strive to imitate nature in creating flavors that mimic the fresh, juicy, green, and ripe aroma and taste of the original food, spice, or herb. In other words, the goal of the flavorist is to create those subtle flavor nuances that excite our senses of taste and smell.

Fig.3-In gas chromatography olfactometry, flavorists identify and characterize key aroma compounds by sniffing compounds as they elute from the gas chromatograph and determining their retention times.

In the…

Fig. 2—Differences in honey flavor chromatographic profiles from various sources, indicating the aroma profile of the honey using a static proprietary sampling method called Crownspace.

Fig. 4—Comparison of a gas chromatogram to an aromagram.

Fig. 7—Chirality of carvone. The two enantiomers have identical physical properties (boiling point, vapor pressure, etc.) but different olfactive qualities.

Fig. 8—Stereoisomers (chiral pairs) of menthol.

Fig. 9—Thresholds of chiral pairs of menthol for flavor, cooling, and bitterness. From Enberger and Hopp (1988).

Fig. 10—Structural comparison of 4-(l-menthoxy-methyl)-2-(3´-methoxy-4´-hydroxyphenyl)-1,3-dioxolane superimposed in two views on capsaicin,the pungent ingredient in chili peppers.

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In This Article

  1. Food Product Development
  2. Food Ingredients and Additives
  3. Colors
  4. Food Sciences
  5. Food Chemistry
  6. Food Ingredients and Additives
  7. Food Sciences
  8. Sensory Science

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