Food flavor: nature of essential oils

While the average dosage of fragrances in the final product can be very high, flavors in food products are used in very low dosages, well below 1%. The high consumption of essential oils by this sector results from the large volume of sales of flavored foods.

Essential oils are volatile, generally aroma-contributing liquids produced by plant. The term essential oil derived from ‘essence’ as it carries the distinctive scent or essence of the plant material. The most common physical process used for removal of essential oils is team or water distillation.

Because they are volatile, they are also called volatile oils. Specific essential oils are named after the plant from which they are extracted for example, ginger oil, nutmeg oil, and orange oil.

Essential oils are odorous components of plants and plant materials that are characteristics odors of the materials from which they are extracted. Essential oils and natural extracts represent complex aroma mixtures containing hundreds of chemical constituents.

Fruit extracts have been used as flavorings but these are relatively weak when compared to essential oils and oleoresins. Food flavor:
Nature of essential oils

Most widely used flavoring extract

Vanilla extract is perhaps the most widely used flavoring extract. Other flavoring extracts include lemon, lime, orange, almond, cinnamon, clove and berries.

Vanilla is one extract for which the US Federal Government has issued standards of identity. These specifications give requirements for vanilla extract, concentrated vanilla extract, vanilla flavor, concentrated vanilla flavoring, vanilla-vanillin extract, vanilla-vanillin flavor, vanilla powder and vanilla-vanillin powder.

One of the largest groups of flavors is spices. Spices have been used in food for a very long time.

They contain essential oils, which contributed toward the fine aroma. In addition, many of them have pungency or hotness, which gives piquancy to the food.

Barley extract is widely used as a browning and flavoring agent by the baking industry. It is sold in both powdered and liquid forms mostly to cereal and bread companies. It gives a malt flavor to breakfast cereals.
Most widely used flavoring extract