Application of flavors and fragrances in the food industry

Edible flavors and fragrances have been widely used in various fields of food production, which not only improves the quality of food, but also promotes the rapid development of the food industry.

In candy, because its production requires heat processing, the loss of flavor is great, so it is necessary to add flavor to make up for the lack of flavor. Flavors are widely used in candy production, such as hard candies, aerated candies, caramel candies, fruit juice candies, jelly candies, chewing gum, bubble gum, powdered sugar, etc., edible flavors are indispensable additives. Although the amount of essence used in candy is very small, it plays a decisive role in the aroma and flavor of the product. It can make the candy fragrance pleasant and infinitely varied.

Oil-soluble flavors with high thermal stability are generally used in candy production. At present, microencapsulated flavors have been used in the production of candy, especially chewing gum, which can reduce the loss and damage of flavors during processing, and the flavor can be kept for a long time during chewing.

In beverages and cold drinks, because the aroma components are easily lost during processing, adding flavors and fragrances can not only supplement the aroma lost due to processing, maintain and stabilize the natural taste of the product, but also cover the bad flavor in the product. For example, ordinary liquor has bad tastes such as bitterness and astringency. In order to cover up these peculiar smells, it is necessary to add a certain amount of flavors and fragrances, and at the same time it can also highlight the unique aroma of liquor. The application of water flavor or emulsified flavor in beverages and cold drinks is more extensive, but the amount added is generally small.

In condiments, flavors are widely used, including meat products and puffed seasonings, biscuit seasonings and instant noodles and other convenience food seasoning packages. In the production of seasonings, due to the influence of various raw materials or different temperatures and control conditions during chemical reactions, the characteristic flavor of the product is often not obvious, that is, the lack of top aroma, and appropriate addition of food flavors can make up for this defect .

The flavors used in seasonings are generally salty flavors, including pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens and other poultry, seafood, vegetables and spices, etc., and most of them are oil-soluble flavors with high temperature resistance. The amount of food flavor added in the seasoning depends on different processes, formulas and customer requirements. At present, there have been many reports on the development and application of microencapsulated seasoning. The use of microencapsulated spices can not only avoid the loss of flavor substances during storage, but also release the flavor of spices quickly.

In dairy products, flavors and fragrances are mainly used in yogurt, lactic acid bacteria drinks and margarine. Milky, citrus and fruit flavors are traditionally popular flavors in food flavors, while mango, aloe vera, grape, passion fruit, guava, papaya and grapefruit are increasingly used in yoghurt.

Flavors are most widely used in baked goods, especially biscuits. Since the biscuits are subjected to high temperature during the baking process, high temperature resistant and oil-soluble flavors are required. In addition, during the baking process of baked goods, part of the spices will be taken away due to the evaporation of water, and at the same time, the spices will escape or change excessively at high temperatures, which will weaken the flavor of the product during the shelf life. After seasoning spices, it can reduce the loss during processing, so that it can maintain the rich flavor during the shelf life. At present, in the processing of biscuits with different flavors such as scallion biscuits and tea-flavored biscuits, as well as bread and puffed food, many of them have used microencapsulated flavoring spices.

In meat products, spicy spices, meaty spices and other flavors are most commonly used, which can remove and cover the fishy smell of raw meat, and impart and increase the flavor of meat products. For example, after high-temperature sterilization, the taste of high-temperature meat products is worse than that of low-temperature meat products. High-temperature meat products should use oily flavors with good heat resistance or heat-reactive flavors. In the low-temperature meat products, due to the refrigeration method, most of them are not heated when eating, so it is advisable to choose flavors with strong aroma, strong low-temperature volatility, and long-lasting fragrance. At present, Western-style meat products are still the main field of flavor application, Chinese-style meat products are gradually accepting the use of flavors, and food flavors applied to quick-frozen instant meat products will become a new research and development direction for flavor manufacturers.