5 Flashcards
C) Flavouring Agents
what are their functions
what are not their functions
Function(s):
(1) to render a food more acceptable and enjoyable (by masking objectionable taste characteristics [e.g. soy, artificial sweeteners]; or to enhance existing flavours);
(2) to impart a recognizable character to a food product when very little or none existed [e.g. JELL-O, beverages; association of flavor with colour]- eyes and our brain tell us what it should be, not our taste buds (3) to compensate for flavour losses during processing or to extend ‘freshness’ during storage.
(1) mask human errors (e.g. poor manufacturing practices [lack of GMP]); (overheated is bad processing – gives cooked flavor, example dole, sqeezing the orange too much and get taste of the white stuff on peel)
(2) mask the use of poor quality raw ingredients; and
(3) improve a poorly designed product, example
Flavouring Agent Definition:
“the property of a substance which causes a seemingly simultaneous sensation of taste in the mouth and odour in the back of the nose”
5 basic taste- talk about 4
bitter, sour, salty, sweet- all over our mouth - not on specific parts of the tongue
there are super tasters and not- have more taste buds
first flavouring agents were
- first flavouring agents were spices, herbs and essential oils (aromatic/odorous oily liquids obtained from plant materials such as mint)-> birth of food additives and their regulation
- access to, and ownership of these compounds were responsible for many world changes/conflicts (e.g. Roman Empire; Americas)Columbus (1942): looking for a direct water route from Europe to Asia-> food spices (pepper, cinnamon, turmeric); health (cloves, cardamom)
what are 2 Natural Flavours (examples)
what functional groups do they have
Natural Flavours (examples)
(a) acids: acetic and citric acids (“sour” taste response; non-volatile
compounds; functional group: -COOH)- pungeant
we can taste the bitter tast 10000 times better than sweet
carbohydrates and polyols (hydrophilic):
which is sweeter alpha-mannose or beta
what functional group do they have?
α-mannose is known as sweet
β-mannose is known as bitter) (6% bitter, 94% sweet taste the bitter because its stronger)
- functional group: -OH
- illustrates the important role of structure in human taste response and molecular flexibility
uti: e-coli- 90-80%- exude glycoprotein and stick to the cell wall- those that get it frquently and it competes with the glycoprotein- is a competition -example of carbohydrate treatment
) alcohols (isoprenoids; hydrophobic):
(b) alcohols (isoprenoids; hydrophobic):
these are just one of the flavor compounds in these products
citronellol (rose oil)
linalool (cinnamon)
L-menthol (peppermint)
- also act as insect repellents; GRAS status
(c) aldehydes
- Functional group =c-h
- GRAS; perfumes (up to 0.5%);
C) Flavouring Agents (Preparations)
(d) multiple functional groups (e.g. aldehydes + alcohol + ether):
vanillin (vanilla bean/pod; Orchidacae)
- very expensive flavour vanilla extract) ~$3,000/kg
- vanillin is also produced from lignin (by-product of the pulp and paper industry) and guaiacol (petroleum industry) ~85% of world supply; cost of $400-500/kg
- This material is called “nature identical”- exactly the same structure- never would think that it came from another source
- option of ‘artificial’ vanilla flavour: ethyl vanillin (2-4x more potent flavour; cost of $20-50/kg; LD50: 1590 mg/kg bwt)
natural flavours:
the flavouring compounds are isolated from naturally occurring raw materials by physical methods and cemical (grind it up and then treat it with a chemical so both (e.g. pressing, solvent extraction, distillation)
remove the water from the juice but also takes some of the flavor- evaporates the essence and can add it back to the juice or sell it as a flavor pack to ex. Jello, cosmetics
nature identical flavours:
the flavouring compounds are obtained by synthesis (chemical or enzymatic) or areisolated through chemical and physical processes from naturally occurring raw materials and are chemically identicalto a substance present in natural products intended for human consumption (e.g. vanillin from lignin)
(c) artificial flavours:
these are flavouring compounds that have not yet been identified in a natural product intended for human consumption (i.e. ethyl vanillin)
are natural,nature identical and artificial safe for conumption
((a) natural flavours: are natural constituents of foods so they are assumed to be safe
(b) Nature identical flavors: are also considered safe as long as they are not used in foods in/at concentrations significantly higher than is found naturally
(c) artificial flavours: undergo extensive toxicity testing (e.g. cmta)
A. Eugenol
Are all natural flavours safe?
A. Eugenol-major flavor components in cloves (50%)
active flavour compound in cloves (~0.2 g/10 g of dried cloves 37 chemical components) and bay leaf (also present at low levels in many herbs and spices (e.g. cinnamon and nutmeg)
- Listed as a carcinogen (not on the current CA Proposition 65 list)
dietary studies: kidney and liver damage in animal studies (1% of diet)
analgesic (pain relief [e.g. toothache]) and anesthetic (e.g. fish)
- GRAS (USA; not in Canada) [ LD50: 2.650 mg/kg bwt
C) Flavouring Agents (Preparations)
Final Comments
flavour addition to foods is generally conducted under GMP
-the term “flavors” on the ingredient label indicates natural
flavor compounds/preparations
no distinction is made between ‘natural’ and ‘nature identical’ when labeling foods
Food flavor market: $11.5 billion (2015; predicted growth of
1.3%/year
Synthetic flavors: on their way out
