FOOD FLAVORS

Definition of flavor:

Food flavor is produced by one or a combination of more than one components in the food. Flavor
perceptions such as hot, pungent and biting, are also sensations received by the general pain, tactile, and
temperature receptors in the mouth, nose and eyes. The following table summarizes broad flavor profile
correlated to sensation descriptors.

Table: Correlation of flavor types with sensation descriptors

Body part Flavor type Sensation descriptor
Acidic, estery (e.g. fruity, sugary), green, terpenoid (include many
flavor profile e.g. musky, citrus), spicy, floral, brown (e.g. roasted),
Nose Odor
woody (e.g. musty, oaky, hickory, terpy, piney, leafy, earthy, seedy,
smoky, etc.), lactonic (e.g. coconut-creamy), sulfury
Nose and
Trigeminal Astringent, cool / heat, pungent
mouth
Tongue Taste Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami

Like foods, food flavors originate from two major biological sources – plants and animals, as listed in the
table below.

Food origin
Biological sources Primary origin
Biological process Thermal process

Fruits, vegetables, spices, Coffee, caramel, cocoa,

Plants Bread, beer, wine
flowers, leaves, nuts roasted nuts

Roasted / grilled / broiled

Animals Fish, beef, chicken, milk Sausage, yogurt, cheese meat, sweetened
condensed milk (SCM)

Food flavors are classified on the basis of food sources that emit them (following table), and more than one
flavors are emitted by almost all food items. However, such classification may be arbitrary, as the same
food item may have difference in flavor depending on various factors such as source of raw ingredients,
including source of portable water.

Table: Classification of food flavors

Flavor class Subdivision Example / food source
Citrus (terpene) Grape fruit, orange, lemon, lime
Fruit flavor
Non-citrus (non-terpene) Apple, berries, banana, mango, etc.
Fresh Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, celery, etc.
Vegetable flavors
Dried Dried
Aromatic Cinnamon, peppermint, saffron, cumin,
Spice flavors coriander
Lachrymatory (causing Onion, garlic
 secretion of tears)
Hot Pepper, ginger
Fermented Wine, beer, other alcoholic beverage, tea
Beverage flavors Unfermented Fruit juice, vegetable juice, milk
Compounded Soft drinks, cordials
Fish meat Salmon, hilsa, etc.
Meat flavors Mammalian meat Beef, lamb, pork
Avian (bird) meat Chicken, turkey, duck
Vegetable oils Olive oil, soybean oil, mustard oil, olive oil
Fats and oils flavors
Animal fats Lard, tallow, butter, ghee
Broth Soups with animal meat
Vegetable Cooked vegetables like peas, green beans,
Cooked flavors
potatoes
Fruit Marmalade, jam, jelly, ketchup, sauce
Smoky Smoked muscle foods e.g. sausages like ham
Empyreumatic flavors Broiled, fried Processed meat
Roasted, toasted, baked Coffee, snack foods, breakfast cereals, bread
Blue cheese
Fermented
Spoiled foods e.g. oxidative rancidity in foods
Stench flavors Oxidized and/or other
with unsaturated lipid(s), post-mortem
biochemical deterioration
deterioration in muscle foods

Flavor compounds: The following table summarizes the classes of compounds, along with their
corresponding sensory characteristics.

Table: Compound classes along with the corresponding sensory characteristics

Compound class Sensory characteristics Examples
Volatiles:
Aldehydes Fruity, green Acetaldehyde, hexanal
Oxidized, sweet Decanal, vanillin
Alcohols Bitter, medicinal Linalool, menthol (terpene alcohol)
Piney, caramel α-Terpineol, maltol
Esters Fruity Ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate
Citrus Geraniol acetate
Ketones Butter, caramel Diacetyl, furanones
Maillard reaction Brown, burnt, caramel, earthy Pyrazine(s), pyridine, furans
products
Phenolics Medicinal, smokey Phenol(s), guaiacols
Terpenoids Citrus, piney Limonene, pinene
Citrus Valencene
Non-volatiles:
Amino acids Sweet, sour, bitter All amino acids
Organic acids Sour Citric, malic, tartaric acids
Polyphenolic acids Astringent, bitter Chlorogenic, caffeic
Flavonoids Astringent, bitter Flavonols, anthocyanins
Phenolics Medicinal, smoky Guaicols, phenols
Sweeteners like –
Sugars Sweet, body Sucrose, glucose, fructose
High intensity sweeteners Sweet Aspartame, acesulfame-K, saccharin,
cyclamate
The volatile compounds travel through air into the nose or the esophageal passageway to arrive at the nasal
receptors, and generate a response. The non-volatile compounds, on the other hand, must be carried to the
taste buds of the tongue or the inner lining of the mouth via food or saliva to elicit a response.

Volatile flavor compounds: It is estimated that human sensory organ are responsive to about 10,000
different aromatic compounds. Approximately, 3,000 of these have been identified, particularly after
development of gas chromatography (GC). However, contribution of each of these volatile compounds to
flavor of a particular food may not be accurately measured, as many low-concentration aromatic
compounds contribute more significantly to food flavor than those volatile components that are present in
relatively greater concentration.

Aldehydes – Aldehydes play an important role in providing flavor characteristics of a wide range of foods.
The unsaturated aliphatic aldehydes tend to produce stronger aromas than their saturated analogues. The
following list summarizes examples of aldehydes contributing to different food items.
• Trans-hex-3-enal and trans-hex-2-enal in leaves other green vegetables are primary contributors to
‘green’ flavor.
• Saturated, short-chain aliphatic aldehydes are essential part of natural tomato flavor.
• Trans-hex-3-enal and trans-hex-2-enal are also significant contributors to flavor of different varieties of
apples, while benzaldehyde is significant part of almond and cherry flavor.
• The citrus odor comes from aliphatic aldehydes, like decanal, having 8 to 10 carbon atoms and
oxygenated terpenes, such as terpineol and citral.
• The cis- and trans-deca-2,4-dienals have been found in a wide variety of foods, including cottonseed oil,
soybean oil, milk fat, beef fat, cooked chicken, tomatoes and rye crisp bread, and are believed to impart a
desirable deep-fat flavor.
Alcohol – The odor threshold of alcohols is considerably higher than that of the corresponding aldehydes,
so they are normally less important to flavor profiles. For example, as the storage time of fruit preserves or
jellies is prolonged, the carbonyl content (aldehydes and ketones) decreases due to the formation of
corresponding alcohols leading to equivalent to a decrease of the flavor value.
• Trans-hex-3-enol contributes to a green note and occurs in a wide range of higher plants, including in
fermented tea leaves.

Ketones – Majority of ketone flavors are present in dairy products e.g. non-8-en-2-one contributing to blue
cheese flavor.

Acids – Acids are primarily responsible for producing a sour taste in the mouth. Also, the volatile acids can
impart an aroma, examples of which are listed below.
• Butyric and caproic acids produce a desirable butter flavor, while propionic acid is an important flavor
contributor to Swiss cheese. Isovaleric acid is a significant contributor to Limburger cheese flavor.
• During frying, animal and vegetable oils are heated in the presence of air producing alk-2-enoic and alk-
3-enoic acids that are important component of fried food flavor.
• Several alkyl-branched fatty acids are powerful components of fruit flavors e.g. 2- methylbutyric acid in
cranberry flavor and 2-methyl-pent-3-enoic acid in strawberry.

Esters – Aliphatic esters in various combinations play a major role in many fruit flavors.
• Hexyl acetate and 2-methylbutyrate give the characteristic flavor of apples, while Pineapple flavors
contain the methyl and ethyl esters of hex-3-enoic, dec-4-enoic, and oct-4-enoic acids.
• Ethyl deca-2,4-dienoate is the character-impact compound of pears, while methyl- and ethyl-cinnamates
provide sweet, honey notes associated with strawberry flavor.
Lactones – Lactones have a very low threshold value (~ 0.1 ppm), and hence have high flavour values.
Lactones are internally formed esters, and are in chemical equilibrium with their corresponding acids. For
examples, 4-hydroxy acids transform into -lactones and 5-hydroxy acids transform into -lactones.
-lactones are found in animal products, whereas -lactones preferentially occur in plants, as listed in the
following examples.
• During storage of ripened pineapple, the sweet, pineapple aroma of ethyl 5-hydroxyoctanoate and ethyl
5-hydroxydecanoate changes into an intense coconut-like aroma as these hydroxy esters cleave to expose
the carboxylic acid group, and cyclize into their corresponding -lactones.
• -lactones impart the distinct impression of sweet cream and milk. A butter-like note is imparted by -
decalactone.
• Various -butyrolactones giving many individual flavors, especially a sweet roasted note, have been
identified in the volatiles of many foodstuffs e.g. chicken, beef, apricot, passion fruit, raspberry,
strawberry, raisins, plums, tomatoes, pineapple, citrus, coffee, tea, roasted onions, popcorn, roasted
peanuts, cocoa, bread, beer, wine, vinegar and mushrooms.
• Peach flavour contains many lactones: -decalactone, -hexalactone, -heptalactone, -octalactone, -
decalactone, and -dodecalactone.

Furans – Occurring in the volatiles of all heated foods, oxygenated furans are usually formed from
carbohydrates in the Maillard reaction. Furfurals and furanones generally impart caramel-like, sweet, fruity
characteristics to foods, while a burnt and caramel-like, slight meaty flavor is produced by 5-
methylfurfural.

Phenols – Volatile phenols are not naturally present in fruit juices, and they arise from the metabolism of
some precursors. Different pathways involved are:
1) the biochemical degradation of phenolic acids during yeast fermentation,
2) the chemical degradation of lignin from the storage barrels,
3) phenol produced from lignin in smoked muscle foods via the slow burning of wood e.g. phenols and
guaiacols (methoxyphenols) are responsible for the characteristic flavor of smoked bacon and ham, and
4) eugenol (both an alcohol and a phenol) from cloves and vanillin from vanilla (both an aldehyde and a
phenol) are examples of phenols naturally present and responsible for flavor of spices.

Terpenoids – Terpenoids are substances derived in nature from the metabolic intermediate, mevalonic
acid, which provides the basic structural unit – the isoprene unit. Hemi-, mono-, sesqui-, and di-terpenoids,
having one, two, three or four isoprene units, respectively, are well known. But, it is the monoterpenoids
(e.g. linalool, geraniol, nerol and citronellol), that provide the character-impact flavors of many herbs,
spices and citrus fruits. The terpenes (hydrocarbons) are found in the essential oils of most plants, but have
little flavor of their own. Usually, the oxygenated terpenes have flavor threshold values much lower than
those of the hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbon terpenes may simply interact with the oxygenated terpenes as
a solvent to enhance the ability of the flavor compounds to reach the organoleptic receptors. Compared to
the monoterpene derivatives, the quantity of the larger sesquiterpene compounds (made up
of three isoprenoid units) in essential oils is small, but very important to flavor e.g.
humulene epoxides contribute to the hop character in beers.

Sulfur-containing compounds – The sulfur group of any compound has a high flavor impact because it
binds strongly to the olfactory receptors. For example, thiols have dramatically lower odor thresholds than
their analogous alcohols.
• 1-p-menthene-8-thiol, a sulfur-containing terpene, has a low (10-7 ppm) threshold value, and is
responsible for characteristic grapefruit flavor.
• Furans with thiol, methylthio and disulfide substituent (having a low threshold value of 2 × 10-8 ppm)
contribute to cooked meat flavor.
• The group of isothiocyanates that give the pungent aroma in cruciferous plants e.g. horse-radish, mustard,
kohlrabi and cabbage, reaches human odor receptors only after mechanical cell injury to the vegetable
tissues. Similar group of pungent flavor compounds are responsible for characteristic pungency in onion,
garlic, and cloves.
• Dimethyl sulfide is the principal volatile flavour component of processed tomatoes (but is absent in fresh
tomato) and is formed during the heating process from methylmethionine sulfonium salt.

Non-volatile flavor compounds: Only a few volatile compounds are detected by the taste buds of the
tongue or the inner lining of the mouth. Most receptors in the mouth elicit a response from non-volatile
compounds, which must be physically carried via food or saliva to these receptors. Non-volatile
compounds, by definition, cannot have an aroma, but they can be broken down to release volatile
compounds, e.g. by the hydrolysis of terpene glycosides or the enzymatic cleavage of glucosinolates.

Amino acids and peptides – The dipeptide, aspartame (N-L-aspartyl-L- phenylalanine methyl ester), is a
commercial low-calorie sweetener that is 180 times sweeter than sucrose by weight. It has a clean, sweet
taste without a bitter or metallic after-taste.
The amino acids alanine and proline are sweet but with a detectable bitter note. The amino acids
phenylalanine, isoleucine and tryptophan are bitter. Amino acids and/or peptides formed from the
degradation of milk proteins are primarily responsible for the bitterness found in dairy products.

Organic acids – Citric acid gives the tartness to citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons. Citric and malic
acids give the fresh tartness to apples and tomatoes. In grapes, tartaric and malic acids are the primary
contributors, while lactic acid is responsible for sourness in dairy products such as yogurt and buttermilk.

Sugars – In green plants, the main carbohydrate that is translocated from one part of a plant to another is
the disaccharide sucrose.
• In ripening fruits, sucrose is rapidly converted by an invertase enzyme into glucose and fructose as soon
as it enters the fruit. In fruits such as tomatoes, only 5-8% of the fresh weight is solids, and half of these are
sugars. In root crops such as potatoes, the sucrose is been converted into starch.
• The major sugars present in citrus fruit juices are sucrose, glucose and fructose e.g. in orange juice, these
sugars (constitute 60 – 80% of total solid contents in the juices) are in the approximate ratio of 2:1:1. The
ratio of total sugars to total acids present in citrus juice are of primary importance to their desirable flavor,
and primary criteria for determining legal maturity for citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruit and tangerines.

Salts – Salts are ionic compounds that dissociate in water into anion(s) (-) and cation(s) (+). Cation(s) are
primarily responsible for salty taste, with sodium ion having the lowest threshold value. Potassium chloride
is sometimes used as a salt-replacer in low-sodium foods. But, besides being salty, it also imparts a bitter
flavor.
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and the 5’-nucleotides (participates in MSG’s attachment to the taste
receptors) supply the characteristic savory quality of the ‘umami’ taste. However, MSG’s more important
sensory contribution is their flavor-enhancing property within a limited pH range (5.5-8.0) in most food
systems.
• Inosine 5’-monophosphate (IMP) is a major 5’-nucleotide that acts in synergy with MSG contributing to
meaty, brothy, dry and astringent flavor and mouth feel in freshly harvested meat products. The synergy
suppresses sulfurous and hydrolyzed vegetable protein notes without affecting the sour, sweet, oily, fatty,
starchy and burnt flavor characteristics of meat products e.g. beef.

Flavonoids and alkaloids – Most flavonoids and alkaloids contribute to bitter and/or astringent flavor in
many foods and drinks, as listed below. Monomeric flavonoids are more bitter than astringent, and as the
size of the flavonoid polymer increases, astringency increases relative to bitterness.
• Alkaloids such as nicotine in tobacco and caffeine in coffee and tea are bitter. Catechins are another
group of predominant flavor components in tea, they provide both astringency and bitterness, and are
primary contributors for flavor difference between green (monomeric catechins) and black (dimers, trimers
and larger polyphenols of catechins produced during fermentation) tea.
• Flavonoid phenols are responsible for bitterness and astringency in wines. With the ageing of wine, as
monomeric flavonoids get converted more and more to polymeric flavonoids, astringency increases,
compared to bitterness.
• Tannins are the major polyphenolic group of compounds in apples. Procyanidins (polymeric flavan-3-ols)
significantly contribute to bitterness and astringency in apple cider.

Phenols – The following list briefs some of the common non-volatile phenolic compounds responsible for
trigeminal sensation in certain foods and spices.
• Hot sensation of chilli peppers belongs to a family of vanillylamides known as the capsaicinoids that
consist of a phenol, an amide linkage and a long-chain fatty acid of variable lengths.
• The major two groups of phenolic compounds responsible for the bite / pungency in ginger are gingerols
and shogaols. As ageing of ginger progresses, dehydration of gingerols converts portions of them to
shogaol, and the pungency doubles.

Isothiocyanates – This groups of compounds are responsible for pungent flavor to edible portions of
cruciferous plants.
• The pungency perceived by our sensory response during a bite into a radish or an onion is due to this
group of compounds that are both volatile (low molecular weight) and non-volatile (larger molecular
weight).
• The compounds responsible for the bite in prepared mustards are allyl isothiocyanate (black mustard) and
p-hydroxybenzyl isothiocyanate (white mustard). The smaller volatile isothiocyanates generate the
trigeminal response in the nose, while the larger non-volatile isothiocyanates produce this sensation in the
mouth.