Flavors
The aroma of a food product is an integral factor due to the presence in it of a complex mixture of organic compounds previously contained in raw materials (I), formed under the influence of a number of factors during the process flow (II) and flavorings (II, III) specially introduced during its production (Fig. .9.9).
Rice. 9.9. Formation of taste and aroma of food products during the process flow
The aroma and taste of the finished product is influenced by a large number of factors: the composition of raw materials, the nature and amount of aromatic substances contained in it (I), the features of the technological process of its processing (II) - the duration, temperature, the presence and activity of enzymes, the chemistry of the processes and the nature of the resulting in this case, compounds (for example, the reaction of melanoidin formation), added flavors, flavoring and aroma-forming substances, "revivers" of taste, etc. The taste and aroma of the finished product (III) is the result of all of the above. It is created by a combination of a large number of compounds and is evaluated using "sensory analysis" and analytical methods. "Key" connections play a big role; examples of them that determine the main "tone" of the aroma of a food product can be: in lemons - citral, in raspberries - "-hydroxyphenyl-3-butanone, in garlic - allyl sulfide, in cumin - carvone, in vanilla - vanillin. Table 9.17 shows information about the chemical nature and quantity of individual flavoring substances identified in food products and determining their aroma.
Table 9.17. The amount of flavoring substances in some foods [M. Pome, 1978]
|
Total |
hydrocarbons |
Carbonyl compounds |
Alcohols and phenols |
Acids and lactones |
Other connections |
||||
|
normal |
heterocyclic |
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|
strawberries | |||||||||
|
Citrus | |||||||||
|
Tomatoes | |||||||||
|
Roasted peanuts | |||||||||
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cocoa products | |||||||||
|
poultry meat | |||||||||
The content and composition of aroma-forming substances change as plants mature, during enzymatic and thermal processes, during the destruction of fruits and berries (for example, coffee processing, tea fermentation, cheese ripening, bread baking, etc.). At the same time, during storage, in the course of individual technological operations, a partial loss of aroma and taste occurs. All this makes it necessary to add flavors to food products.
Food flavorings are food additives that are mixtures of aromatic (fragrant) substances or individual aromatic (fragrant) substances, with or without a solvent or dry carrier, and introduced into products in order to improve their aroma and taste.
In combination with other odorous substances that are part of the food systems, they give the finished product a specific (usual or special) flavor.
Flavorings should not include juices, syrups, wines, spices, as they can be used as a food product, although their use can have a great impact on the taste and aroma of food.
Food flavorings are divided into natural, identical to natural and artificial in accordance with the components used in their preparation or the method of preparation. The main consumers of flavors are the production of soft drinks, ice cream, alcoholic beverages, chewing gum, a wide range of confectionery products; flavors are added to dry kissels, margarines, syrups, flour confectionery, dairy products, puddings and meat products, etc.
A wide range of flavors, their different nature, a variety of sources of production, their chemical composition (most of them are used in the form of a multicomponent mixture of compounds), a variety of combinations of individual components pose very difficult tasks in their hygienic assessment. The need to determine the harmlessness (safety) of individual components and their mixtures, the definition of a list of products (or product groups) in which they can be used, strict adherence to the requirements for the purity of individual components - all this has led to the fact that flavors are not included in the classifier of functional food additives, and E-indices are not assigned to them.
In the Russian Federation, the possibility of using flavors is established by the manufacturer's regulatory documentation, agreed during hygienic certification and registration by the Department of State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision of the Ministry of Health.
Sources of obtaining aromatic substances used in the food industry: essential oils and infusions, spices and products of their processing, chemical and microbiological synthesis.
The resulting flavoring substances in most cases are a mixture of compounds (natural or artificially obtained), and only in some cases they are individual compounds. The creation of aroma-forming compositions can be carried out in various ways. Considering that in most cases these are complex mixtures of compounds, they require special approaches to hygienic assessment, which is currently based on criteria that meet the requirements of Council of Europe Directive 88/388EEC of 06/22/86. Let us dwell on the main sources of aroma-forming compounds and chemical compounds that are part of them.
Essential oils and fragrances
Essential oils are odorous liquid mixtures of volatile organic substances produced by plants that cause their smell. Essential oils are multicomponent mixtures with a predominance of one or
several key components. In total, more than a thousand individual compounds have been isolated from essential oils. The chemical composition of essential oils is not constant. The content of individual components varies widely even for plants of the same species and depends on the place of growth, climatic features, the stage of vegetation and the timing of the harvesting of raw materials, the characteristics of post-harvest processing, the duration and conditions of storage of raw materials, the technology of their isolation and processing.
The chemical nature of the compounds that make up essential oils is very diverse and includes compounds belonging to different classes: carbohydrates, alcohols, phenols and their derivatives, acids, ethers and esters.
They are based on terpenoids - terpenes and their oxygen-containing derivatives of various structures.
Aliphatic terpenoids
Aromatic and heterocyclic compounds
Monocyclic terpenoids
Diterpenoids; polycyclic isoprenoids
The main methods for isolating essential oils from raw materials are:
Steam stripping;
Cold pressing;
Extraction with organic solvents followed by their distillation (oleoresins);
Absorption with fresh fat ("enfleurage") or maceration;
CO 2 -extraction.
Each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages and significantly affects the composition of the resulting products. When choosing a method of extraction, the content and composition of essential oils, the characteristics of raw materials are taken into account. Raw (lavender flowers, lilac green mass), dried (mint), dried (iris), enzymatically processed (rose flowers) raw materials are used to isolate essential oils. Recently, extracts of spicy plants containing non-volatile flavoring substances and pigments have become widespread. Essential oils are colorless or colored (green, yellow, yellow-brown) liquids. Poorly soluble or insoluble in water, good in non-polar or low-polar organic solvents. In the light and under the action of atmospheric oxygen, they are easily oxidized. The content of essential oils in plants varies from 0.1% (rose flowers) to 20% (clove buds). For the analysis of fatty oils, gas-liquid and liquid chromatography methods are currently used.
The wide development of organic chemistry and chemical synthesis in the XX century. made it possible to obtain many components of essential oils, to make them more accessible and cheaper, to create a wide variety of aromatic mixtures and combinations, often using natural essential oils.
The production and use of essential oils has a long history. In ancient Egypt, the countries of the East, Japan, they knew how to isolate essential oils, using them in the day of receiving incense, in cosmetics, and medicine. Essential oils got their names by the name of the plants from which they were isolated, sometimes by the content of the main component.
Essential oils are an important component of food flavorings, their quality depends on the composition, method of isolation and purification.
Natural identical food flavors
Food flavors identical to natural - complex compositions of aromatic substances (natural, identical to natural, including synthetic origin) in an appropriate solvent or mixed with solid carriers: starch, lactose, proteins, common salt, etc.
They can include up to 20-30 components of various chemical nature.
The use of only natural aroma-containing sources for the production of flavors is not rational, since it requires a large amount of starting material, and the released products are characterized by aroma instability (with the exception of essential oils). The most effective use of flavors, including natural and identical to natural components. The production of aromatic substances identical to natural ones is economically feasible, their structure corresponds to natural compounds, and their compositions make it possible to obtain combinations of substances that are distinguished by stability and a given aroma. They are convenient to use.
Artificial flavors (including components that do not have natural analogues) require special study and hygienic assessment, they are distinguished by high stability, aroma intensity, and low cost.
The chemical nature of flavors, taking into account the set of components included in their composition, the breadth of sources that were used to obtain them, is very diverse and can be represented by essential oils, aldehydes, alcohols, esters and other classes of organic compounds.
The complex chemical composition of flavors, including components of various nature, forms a variety of odors. Let's take a look at some of the most important components.
Isoprenoids and their derivatives: citral and citronellal - have the smell of lemon; citronellyl formate - gives the products a pleasant fruity smell; linallyl formate - has the smell of coriander;
citronellyl acetate - has the smell of coriander; linalyl acetate - gives the products a bergamot smell.
Aliphatic compounds
aromatic compounds
Vanillin is a crystalline substance. Contained in vanilla pods, in Peru and Tolu balsams, in benzoin resin. Sparingly soluble in water 10 g/l (20°C).
The choice of flavoring agent for obtaining a specific food product is determined by the physicochemical properties of food systems, production technology, and the nature of the resulting finished product.
The introduction of flavors does not complicate the technology. Solvents: alcohol, oil, propylene glycol, triacetyl (E1518), water. In meat products, cheeses, sauces, flavors are added with salt, in creams, dry drinks - with powdered sugar. The added flavor must be evenly distributed throughout the food system. Information about the added flavor should be on the label (natural, identical to natural, artificial).
Spices and seasonings
Spices and other flavoring additives combine substances whose components are compounds that affect the taste and improve the aroma of food (pepper, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon), and seasonings (mustard, horseradish, table salt).
Spices include plant products that are distinguished by their unique taste and aroma properties due to the presence of essential oils, glycosides, alkaloids and some other compounds in them. The use of spices in foodstuffs to give them flavor, sharpness of taste, special taste sensations, sometimes to "correct" the smell of food has a long history. The use of spices not only improves the organoleptic properties of food, but also increases its absorption by the body. As spices, dried and sometimes ground parts of plants are usually used, in which substances with taste and aroma accumulate to the greatest extent. According to the scientific definition, spices are not food additives, but they are widely used in nutrition, industrial food production, catering, home cooking. The significance and extent of use determines the need to consider this group of flavor and aroma improvers.
Currently, more than 150 types of spices are known, but about 40 are most widely used as local flavoring agents. Depending on which part of the plant is used for food, they are divided into several groups. The classification of spices can be represented as follows.
1. Seeds: mustard, nutmeg, cardamom.
2. Fruit: anise, star anise, cumin, coriander, cardamom, pepper, vanilla, fennel, red pepper (pods).
3. Floral: carnation, saffron.
4. Leafy: bay leaf, sweet clover (flowers and leaves), peppermint.
5. Cow: Chinese cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon.
6. Root: ginger, angelica, turmeric, zeodania, kulchan, parsley.
7. All grass: marjoram, oregano, dill, parsley, wormwood, tarragon.
In connection with the transition to large-scale production, with the expansion of the range of food products and the change in the technology for their production, in recent years there have been significant "- changes in the production of spices. The traditional technology for using ground spices and herbs in food is giving way to new approaches and solutions. This is due to the need for an accurate quantitative dosage of the spices introduced, the stability of their taste and aroma, regardless of
Rice. 9.10. Spice processing [according to Bush Boake Allen]
geographical place of origin, time of year, change in quality during storage, the presence of unnecessary fabrics and fibers, a high degree of mechanical and microbiological contamination. Previous processing methods do not eliminate these shortcomings. The proposed new processing methods make it possible to obtain a wide range of products of high quality and stable composition (see Fig. 9.10).
The implementation of this technology makes it possible to obtain a wide range of quality-stable products that are used in modern large-scale food production using flavorings. It should also be noted that certain spices have pharmacological activity, which is widely used in medicine.
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How to make food flavoring at home
Simple ways to prepare flavorings for baking, salads, various dishes.
At home, the possibilities for obtaining an aromatic substance are somewhat limited. However, there are some easy ways to get flavors without leaving your home and without purchasing additional utensils and ingredients.
Natural coffee flavor
To make natural coffee bean flavor, you will need the following ingredients:
- Ground coffee (real) 0.5 kg.
- 2 l Water.
Water should be boiled and then cooled. After that, you need to add ground coffee to the chilled boiled water. Stir and pour the solution into a glass jar with a lid. Tightly cork the bottle, you need to put it in the refrigerator for 12 hours. After the required settling, the food flavoring is ready.
Lemon flavor for baking, salads, electronic cigarettes
You will need:
- 12 medium sized lemons
- 2 liters of water.
Rinse the lemons, remove the remaining water with a towel and cut into small pieces. Put the sliced lemons in a container, pour warm water and leave to infuse (preferably in a warm place).
Then strain the resulting liquid through a strainer and pour into a glass bottle with a lid.
Orange and lemon flavor
Ingredients:
- 1 piece orange.
- 1 piece lemon.
- 200 grams of vodka.
First, peel the orange and lemon. The resulting zest must be poured with vodka and left to infuse in a glass bottle for 24 hours.
And how is a natural flavor obtained on an industrial scale?
To obtain food flavoring from natural raw materials, use the following methods:
- infusion;
- percolation;
- repercolation;
- circulation extraction and other methods.
Extracts are of several types:
- Liquid.
- Dense (in their composition of moisture up to 25%).
- Dry.
To extract the aroma component from raw materials of plant origin, water and ethyl alcohol are used (it is also allowed to use acids, alkali, glycerin, etc. in the technology). Having obtained the extract, it is defended for at least 48 hours at a temperature of up to 10 ° C to obtain a transparent liquid. The liquid is then passed through a filter. Thick extracts require additional steps: precipitation with alcohol, the use of scavengers, boiling with filtration. After that, the purified extracts are brought to a thick state by evaporation under vacuum.
Irina Mastryukova, Head of Quality Department, Valio LLC:
Flavorings are substances that enhance flavor and aroma. They are added to food products to improve organoleptic properties - taste and smell. With the help of flavorings of quite the same type of products, different, recognizable natural tastes and aromas of fruits, berries, vegetables, and so on are “assigned”.
All flavors can be divided into natural compounds (natural flavors) and substances that mimic natural ones. The first type of flavoring additives is isolated from berries, fruits, vegetables, plants in the form of juices, essences or concentrates. Flavors that mimic natural flavors can be identical to natural or artificial. They are obtained synthetically, and the methods for obtaining additives in this group can be very diverse.
The chemical nature of flavors that are identical to natural ones can also be very different. It includes various components, for example: essential oils, aldehydes, alcohols, esters and the like. In the production of such flavor additives, the most important thing is to reproduce compounds that are identical in their chemical composition to the substances that make up the flavor created by nature. Not all raw materials for them are grown in the garden, some can be obtained in laboratories. But in terms of its main organoleptic properties (taste and smell), a flavor that is identical to natural should not differ from natural in any way. Natural flavors are more expensive than their synthetic counterparts and do not have high heat, acid and temporal stability.
In the dairy industry, flavoring additives are used in the production of fruit and berry yoghurts, curds and various desserts, and the type of flavoring is indicated in the technical text on the label. In the last decade, consumers around the world have become very attentive to the composition of the products they buy. Ingredients with complex names, the origin of which is difficult for a non-specialist to determine, raise questions. That is why the concept of a "clean label", in English Clean Label, is becoming more and more popular: products that contain only simple and understandable components. Natural, as they say.
Yulia Khankhalaeva, brand manager of Ahmad Tea Ltd.:
“According to the European classification, a flavor that is identical to natural is compiled according to a chemical structure that coincides with the structure of natural substances. Such flavors are considered harmless and are approved for use in the food industry in all countries of the world.
Modern flavors used in the food industry are obtained from natural raw materials (vegetable or animal origin) through physical, enzymatic or microbiological processes. The quality and quantity of flavors in the Russian Federation are controlled by the technical regulation TR TS 029/2012 "Safety requirements for food additives, flavors and technological aids". The manufacturer must indicate the presence of these substances on the packaging.
Flavors are divided into five types.
FTNF Natural Flavor is composed of 95% of the fruit or natural substance directly named in the formulation, with 5% of other fruit or natural substance added.
WONF Natural Flavoring is biotechnologically produced from the fruit, berry or other natural substance specifically designated in the composition, with the addition of other fruits, berries, etc., in a larger proportion than in FTNF.
FOS Natural Flavoring is made biotechnologically from other fruits or natural substances - that is, it does not contain the product directly indicated in the name.
Flavoring agent identical to natural is composed according to the chemical structure that coincides with the structure of natural substances, but not on the basis of natural substances.
Artificial flavoring is composed exclusively of artificial substances, and the structure of natural substances is also ignored.
Ahmad Tea Ltd. in its blends, it uses partly natural flavors and partly identical natural flavors, but never artificial flavors.”
Among the various flavors that confuse many consumers and force them to return the product to the shelf, there are also components such as flavors. They are artificial, natural and identical to natural. If everything is more or less clear with the first two, then the latter, as a rule, cause confusion: the word “natural” by default inspires confidence, and the word “identical” makes this trust shaken.
In recent years, a flavor that is identical to natural has been referred to in the composition as simply “flavor”, however, the method of obtaining it has remained the same. In order to understand what is behind these definitions, we turned to Olga Bagryantseva, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Leading Researcher at the Federal Research Center for Nutrition and Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Olga Bagryantseva
Doctor of Biological Sciences, Leading Researcher of the Federal Research Center for Nutrition and Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Are there many flavors in our products?
Out of about a thousand kilograms of food that a person eats a year, about 500 grams fall on flavoring substances. Of these, only 25 grams enter the food as part of flavorings, which are purposefully added to products. The remaining 475 grams we eat with vegetables, fruits, herbs and so on.
Therefore, the first thing to pay attention to is that even if flavorings were at least somehow dangerous, the amount of them we eat would still not be enough to harm our health.
But there is no need to talk about harmfulness and danger, since all flavors - both natural and identical to natural, and artificial - undergo numerous tests.
Currently, there is a list of flavoring substances allowed for food production, the safety of which for consumers has certainly been confirmed.
What does "nature identical flavor" mean?
The chemical formula of the fragrance, which is identical to natural, fully corresponds to the formula of the fragrance obtained from vegetable or animal raw materials.
There are no technologies and methods in the world that would help to distinguish a natural flavor obtained from natural raw materials from a natural flavor obtained in the process of chemical synthesis. Thus, a flavoring agent produced by chemical synthesis is much cheaper than a natural one, but at the same time it does not differ at all from it in chemical composition and properties.
The established opinion that everything natural is necessarily useful is not always correct.
Many plants contain biologically active substances that can have a negative impact on human health. For example, mint. It would seem a harmless herb, but in fact it contains small amounts of pulegone (a component of essential oils). Pulegone can have a toxic effect on the liver. Therefore, for example, if concentrated mint extracts are not purified, then if they enter the body in large quantities, there may be negative consequences. But you should not be afraid of natural flavors either, since in the production of flavoring additives from food raw materials and / or products of plant, animal or microbial origin, the flavor is purified from all impurities that can be toxic.
To date, the division of flavors into natural, identical to natural and artificial is already outdated, although it is still well known. Now a more concise classification has been adopted: either natural flavors or just flavors are distinguished.
The first group includes flavors obtained from natural raw materials. The second is the substances created in the process of chemical synthesis: either artificial, or completely repeating the formula of natural flavoring substances, that is, identical to them.
As for artificial flavors, yes, they no longer repeat the formula of natural ones and are synthesized in laboratories from scratch. But again: only those substances that are included in the list of permitted substances that have passed a toxicological assessment and will not harm health are used in food products.
But what if the manufacturer adds a “killer dose” of flavoring to the product?
It is unlikely. Indeed, to achieve the desired taste / aroma, additives are needed in a minimum amount. The content of flavoring in products, as a rule, ranges from 0.01 to 2%, which is not much at all. If you overdo it, it will not improve the taste, but it will greatly increase the cost of the product, and the manufacturer is not interested in this.
What delicious food!
Sometimes it seems that strawberry cake better the berry itself.
But it's just flavoring.
In their molecular structure, they are similar to natural products, but obtained by chemical means.
Identical natural ones, although they smell seductive, but with excessive use seriously harm your health.
Particularly affected kids. The child's body reacts to chemistry more susceptible. suffer allergy sufferers. They are unable to smell the artificial aroma. The result is frequent seizures.
Where beware of congestion flavors:
- fast food;
- confectionery, desserts;
- fast food - soups, convenience foods;
- vanillin and strawberries.
Both of the latter flavors are used in the production of confectionery, products,.
natural vanillin very expensive product. Therefore, flavors have become a profitable solution for production. Natural is harmless, in some cases even useful(for heart disease, the fight against fatigue).
But in artificial vanillin there are harmful elements. They destroy the liver. Moreover, when copying the formula of real vanilla, useful properties do not pass. The cost for 10 mg is about 60 rubles.
1 kg costs about 50 rubles.
It's the same allergen like vanilla.
If you stop following the diet, then it is the kids who can get poisoned.
Strawberries are very popular with the growing generation. Therefore, manufacturers put it in the product at every opportunity. The result is a rash, digestive upset and allergies.
How to protect yourself?
The only sure way is exclude flavors from the diet. It's practically impossible. You always want to have a snack on "harmful" food. That's why follow the advice:
- eat food from your garden grown in a verified location.
- Prepare food by yourself. Exclude fast food and fast food.
- Buy tagged products "natural flavors".
Food with artificial elements changes the body at the cellular level, provokes the development of diseases. Liver, heart, stomach suffer. At pregnant women the fetus develops with pathologies. remember, that children It is strictly forbidden to use artificial flavors.
Manufacturers hide with fine print, incomplete product information. Be more attentively. Don't let yourself be fooled.
Are flavors identical to natural, you can find out by watching the video:
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