Food comes in various textures and flavors, and we all have preferences based on the flavors that we enjoy in a particular food item. Flavors are the diverse perceptions that we get from food products that happen due to chemical interactions between food items and the sensory systems in our brains.
Although most of us savor the taste of a certain food, the flavor of the food is determined by both the senses of smell and taste.
Flavoring agents are additive substances that are added to food items to impart a desirable flavor or modify the preexisting one’s taste, smell, and other characteristics of the food. They can either be naturally synthesized or artificial.
Types Of Flavoring Agents
There are two types of flavoring agents: natural flavoring agents and artificial flavoring agents.
Natural Flavoring Agents
Natural flavoring agents are made from natural oils and a few chemicals that can be utilized for adding flavor items without changing the chemical composition. Vegetables, fruits, spices, buds, barks, meat, leaves, fish, dairy products, and poultry are some of the most common sources of natural flavoring compounds.
Artificial Flavoring Agents
Due to high processing costs and the scarcity of natural sources, some flavoring agents identical to natural flavoring agents are prepared in the laboratories to mimic the flavor. For example, strawberry-flavored ice cream is made with artificial flavoring ingredients rather than real strawberries.
Let us have a look at some of the few examples of flavoring agents.
Examples Of Flavoring Agents
1. Isoamyl Acetate
Also known as isopentyl acetate, this is an organic compound with the chemical name 3-Methylbutylacetate. It is a natural chemical present in most ripe fruits and can also be prepared in labs as a flavoring agent.
Isoamyl has an odor similar to a ripe banana which makes it a good choice as an artificial flavoring agent to give such flavor to food items such as ice creams, sweets, and jellies.
This flavoring agent is sold commercially by the name banana oil and is also commonly used as a pheromone beacon to attract bees.
2. Ethyl Butyrate
Ethyl Butyrate, also known as butyric ether, has a sweet fruity aroma which makes it an essential flavoring agent used in products such as cakes and packed juices. The odor characteristics make ethyl butyrate also employable in the perfume industry. The agent exists naturally in small amounts in some fruits such as apples, figs, and passion fruit, but on large scale, it is synthetically produced by reacting butyric acid and ethanol.
3. Methyl Anthranilate
Methyl anthranilate is also known as carbomethoxyaniline and is widely used as a flavoring agent with a characteristic odor of grapefruit. It is found naturally in Vitis labrusca grapes and Concord as well as several other fruits such as mandarin orange, lemon, neroli, rue oil, tuberose, and other fruits.
Methyl anthranilate is widely used in the perfume industry both as synthetic aroma-chemical and natural essential oils.