FLAVOUR CHANGES DURING FOOD PROCESSING

FOOD PROCESSING

• During Food processing the food material is subjected to various processes in

order to preserve and extend the shelf life of food as well as make it palatable
and acceptable for eating.
• The various processes could be
Cooking
Baking
Pasteurization
Sterilization
Homogenization
Freezing
Cooling
Aseptic Processing and packaging
Controlled Storage –Temperature / Relative humidity /Light /Nitrogen/ CO2
 FLAVOUR CHANGES OCCOUR DUE TO
• Reaction of Amino Acids with Sugars –Millard Reaction
• Breakdown of Starches and Sugars
• Breakdown of fats –Lipoxygenase enzyme / Hydroxy clevage
• Oxidation of unsaturated fats
• Formation of Esters , Alcohols
• Enzymatic Changes.
• Ripening or ageing of Fruits / Vegetables /Foods (Pickles')
• Oxidation of trace metals like Copper, Iron leading to rapid
oxidation of fats as well as imparting “ metallic” taste.
• Presence of micro organisms or residual active enzymes
• Residual moisture /Water activity-Bound /Free water
 CLASSIFICATION OF FLAVOURS IN FOODS
• Inherent or natural
• Developed Flvours- Cooking / Processing
• Abnormal / obnoxious flavours – off flavours
• Added flavours
• Compounded Flavours
 MILLARD REACTION

• Basically a reaction between amino acids and sugar at

appropriate temperatures ,pH and time.
• Products of these are known as Reaction Flavours or
Processed Flavours
• Most common form of flavour formation in foods during
processing also impart brown to off white colour- Baking.
• Produces unique flavours depending on the raw materials
used , process conditions, pH, coenzymes or trace metals
present .
• At industrial levels the process is used to produce unique
flavours like –Meat , Chicken, vegetable flavours in various
tonality and intensity -Boiled, Cooked, Grilled, Toasted,
Smoked (Tandoori type).
 MAJOR RAW MATERIALS USED IN MANUFACTURING
OF REACTION FLAVOURS.
• Various Amino acids
• Hydrolyzed vegetable Proteins / Protein Fractions. (HVP)
• Yeast , autolysed yeast , yeast extracts
• Sugars - Reducing Sugars , Glucose, Fructose , Lactose .
• Modified Starch and other Carbohydrate fractions (Selective)
• Vitamins – Thiamin B complex
• Ascorbic acid / Vitamin C
• Enzymes mainly protease type
 CRITICAL PROCESS PARAMETERS-PROCESSED FLAVOURS

• The Flavour profile of end product obtained is very critical and very
specific to the type and quality of Raw materials used, their
proportions , particle size .
• The reaction Parameters responsible for obtaining the right
Flavour Profile are:
Temperature
Pressure
Reaction Time
Vessel size and Head Space
Processing steps – single or multiple sages – Liquid flavour
obtained in some cases is Spray Dried depending on end usage /
application.

•
 SOME END COMPONENTS OF PROCESSED FLAVOURS

• These are responsible for imparting specific

profile to end Flavour either singularly or in
mixed proportion.
Aldehydes, Ketones,Dicarbonyls,Alcohols,Esters
Pyrazines
Thiazols
Furanones
Furans
Thiophenes
•
 EXAMPLES OF PROCESSED FLAVOURS

• Roasted Chicken flavour is produced by reaction between L-Cysteine

Hydrochloride and Glycine with Mixture of L Arabinose and dextrose
under appropriate temperature and pH.
• Ham flavour is produced using same above ingredients but with change in
time, temperature ,and pH of reaction .
• Roasted Beef like flavour is produced by interaction of L –Cysteine and
Thiamine with reducing sugar.

• Hydrolyzed vegetable proteins are produced by acid and or enzymatic

reaction of native protein of Wheat or Corn and have specific flavours –
these are not flavours per say but are added along with Processed
flavours to enhance profile or are used as Raw materials for Reaction
Flavours.
 ENZYMATICALLY DERIVED FLAVOURS
• Dairy Flavours – Cheese
Enzymatically modified –lipase, protease which lead to
imparting lactones, esters and peptides to give the
characteristic Cheese note

• Alcoholic flavour – Beer Enzyme + Yeast used to ferment and

break down carbohydrates and sugar from barley, Hops –
maybe some grain.

• Ripening of Fruits-Natural vs. accelerated(forced ) .

 MAJOR CHEMICALS IN VARIOUS FLAVOUR CLASSES

Dairy - Butyric Acid ,Lactones, Ketones, Caproic acid,

Capric acid,Di acetyl
Fruits – Esters, Acids , Alcohols, Ketones.
Citrus Fruits – Terpenes, Hydrocarbons and corresponding
Alcohols and Carbonyls.
Baked / - Pyrazines, Sulphur Compounds ,
Roasted Pyranes,Millard reaction compounds
 BIOGENESIS OF FLAVOURS IN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
• Generation of Aroma Chemicals and compounds in Plants –
Fruits and Vegetables is known as Biogenesis.
Essentially ripening of fruits and vegetables. Initially low
aroma but on maturation on the plant itself or storage leads
to increased formation and breakdown of complex
structure due to increased respiration and enzymatic
activity leading to formation of aroma chemicals .
 SOME AROMA CHEMICALS OF FRUITS AND
VEGETABLES
• In Pears decadienoate esters are formed from B oxidation of
linoleic acid-Characteristic aroma .
• Banana - Acetate esters , Betanoete esters.
• Tomatoes -Lipid oxidation of linolenic acid produces 9-13
hydroperoxides –these are further enzymatically degraded to
hexinal and cis-3 –Hexinal. These have green character and
these are abundandantly present in Tomatoes.
• Important components of Onion are Sulfides,Di sulfides,
Trisulfides, Thiopropanal-s-oxide.
• Further there is hydroxy acid cleavage leading to formation
of lactones-most important flavour components of Peach,
Apricot, Coconut.
FACTORS INFLUENCING DEVELOPMENT OF FLAVOURS
IN PLANT PRODUCTS

• Genetics- Determines enzyme system and their activity in

Flavour Formation-qualitatively and quantitatively.
Green , yellow, red Apple.
• Environmental effect-Temperature, soil condition ,soil
nutrition and fertilizers, water, sunlight , altitude -Mango
varieties geographically spread.
• Water adsorption -Solid content of F&V.
• F&V maturity after plucking. (Lactones levels)
• Storage conditions- Temp/RH / Controlled atmosphere.
 OFF FLAVOURS IN FOODS
• These are developed in Foods and are:
• Environmental Contamination
coming from Air, Water, disinfectants, washing materials
• Air borne sources- From air in processing areas
• Packaging materials n- chemical and odor contamination
• Micro organism in the area /air
• Off flavours due to Genetics –carry forward effect.
• Animal feed / diet for poultry / Meat / Fish
• Off flavours due to chemical changes in foods –lipid oxidation, non
enzymatic browning (canned foods), enzymatic changes (Lipoxygenase,
lipase, protease ), light (Beer, Beverages discoloration ) ,water activity
• Repeated processing / heating – boiling milk many times