FRAGRANCES, FLAVORS AND FOOD ADDITIVES Methods of Extracting Essential Oil
1. Steam Distillation
I. The Perfume Industry
PERFUME
-Defined as any mixture of pleasantly odorous substance
incorporated in a suitable vehicle
-Takes its name from the Latin word “perfumare” which means
“to fill with smoke”
Constituents of Perfume:
1. Vehicle
-solvent used for blending and holding perfume materials
Highly Refined Ethyl Alcohol
▪ modern solvent used and is mixed with more or less 2. Water Distillation
water according to the solubilities of oils employed
▪ with its volatile nature:
• it helps project the scent it carries
• is fairly inert to the solutes
• is not too irritating to the human skin
Prefixation
▪ deodorizing alcohol to remove its slight natural odor
▪ accomplished by adding a small amount of gum
benzoin or other resinous fixatives to alcohol and
allowing it to mature for a week or two
▪ results to an almost odorless alcohol where the natural
rawness having been neutralized by the resins
3. Solvent Extraction
2. Fixatives
-defined as substances of lower volatility than the perfume oils,
which retard and even up the rate of evaporation of the various
odorous constituents
Types of Fixatives:
▪ animal secretions (e.g. castor, musk)
▪ resinous products (e.g. oleoresins, balsams)
▪ essential oils (from vetiver, sandalwood)
▪ synthetic chemicals (e.g. Musk ketone, Vanillin)
3. Odorous Substances 4. Maceration
a. Essential Oils
▪ are highly concentrated oils obtained from plants that
have the odor and other characteristic properties of
the plants
▪ volatile
Compounds occurring in essential oils (responsible for the
presence of odor)
▪ Esters
▪ Alcohols
▪ Aldehydes
▪ Acids
▪ Phenols
▪ Ketones
▪ Lactones
▪ Terpenes
▪ Hydrocarbons
5. Enfleurage 1. Oils are extracted from plants by several extraction methods
2. Once the perfume oils are collected, these are blended with
alcohol and fixatives according to the formula by the “nose”
(perfume master)
3. Fine perfume is aged for several months or even years after
blending and the “nose” will once again test the perfume to
ensure that the correct scent has been achieved.
6. Cold-Press Extraction II. The Flavoring Industry
▪ Basic tastes of the nerve endings in the taste buds the
tongue can detect: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami
▪ Flavor involves the combination of these 5 basic
stimuli with concurrent odor sensations.
▪ Flavor is the sensory impression of food or
other substances, and is determined primarily by the
chemical senses of taste and smell.
Some Examples of Flavoring:
1. Natural Fruit Concentrates
▪ “Fruit with the water removed”
▪ Has less fiber and vitamin C since pulp and skin of fruits
are removed and heating processes are employed in
making fruit concentrates
Because of the large percentage of water in most common fruits
b. Isolates and the presence of considerable amounts of sugar and other
▪ are pure chemical compounds whose source is an easily fermented materials, special processes must be
essential oil or other natural perfume material employed:
▪ They are specifically taken out because of their scent ▪ Distillation and Extraction of the Fruit
notes and aromatic qualities, instead of therapeutic ▪ Extraction of the Juice
qualities. ▪ Concentration of the Juice
c. Synthetics and Semi-Synthetics 2. Vanilla
▪ These are chemically synthesized from an isolate, or ▪ immature fruit of the orchid vanilla planifola
other natural starting materials ▪ Primary flavor compound: vanillin
▪ Examples:
▪ vanillin from eugenol from clove oil Vanilla Extract
▪ ionone from citral from lemon grass ▪ made by macerating and percolating vanilla pods in a
oil solution of ethanol and water
▪ terpenoids from turpentine and
pine oil Trivia: “Beaver butts emit goo used for Vanilla Flavoring”
• Examples of Synthesis Process:
▪ Hydrogenation Beaver butts secrete a goo called castoreum, which the animals
▪ Oxidation use to mark their territory. The U.S. Food and Drug
▪ Nitration Administration lists castoreum as a “generally regarded as safe”
▪ Grignard Process additive, and manufacturers have been using it extensively in
perfumes and foods for at least 80 years, according to a 2007
The Perfume-Making Process study in the International Journal of Toxicology.
VEHICLE Castoreum is a chemical compound that mostly comes from
a beaver’s castor sacs and instead of smelling icky, castoreum
ODOROUS
ELEMENT has a musky, vanilla scent, which is why food scientists like
(OIL) PERFUME
RAW MATERIAL to incorporate it in recipes.
EXTRACTION BLENDING AGING
(ODOROUS)
3. Chocolate and Cocoa
-from Cacao bean
FIXATIVE
stimulation of nerve cells. For this reason, MSG has been labeled
4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) an excitotoxin.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer and is It’s true that increased glutamate activity in your brain
basically, the sodium salt of glutamic acid (or glutamate). can cause harm — and that large doses of MSG can raise blood
levels of glutamate. However, dietary glutamate should have
little to no effect on your brain, as it cannot cross the blood-brain
barrier in large amounts
MSG does not have a distinct flavor on its own, but:
▪ It helps to intensify the natural savory flavor III. Food Additives
(umami) of foods -are chemicals combined with foods by the manufactures to
▪ It helps reduce the sodium content effect certain modifications involving preservation, color, flavor
enhancement, and stabilization, which have helped to make an
MSG Manufacturing Process astounding improvement in our food supply, as well as
alleviating work in the kitchen
Types of Food Additives:
1. Intentional Additives
▪ substances added in carefully controlled amounts to
preserve the quality of food, improve its nutritive
value and add flavor (e.g. MSG, vinegar, starch, salt)
2. Incidental Additives
▪ those that although having no function in finished
food become part of it through some phase of
production, processing, storage or packaging
▪ (material added to food by the use of pesticides, herbi
cides, or chemicals used in food processing)
Simple Flowchart: Categories of Food Additives
GLUTAMIC ACID-
1. Anti-caking agents – stop ingredients from becoming
PRODUCING MICROBE lumpy.
(Corynebacterium
glutamicum) 2. Antioxidants – prevent foods from oxidizing, or going
rancid.
3. Artificial sweeteners – increase the sweetness.
RAW MSG
MATERIAL GLUCOSE SOLUTION 4. Emulsifiers – stop fats from clotting together.
GLUCOSE PURIFICATION
(Sugar cane, FERMENTATION
Tapioca,
PRODUCTION 5. Food acids – maintain the right acid level.
sugar beets) 6. Colors – enhance or add color.
PURE
GLUTAMIC
7. Humectants – keep foods moist.
ACID 8. Flavors – add flavor.
9. Flavor enhancers – increase the power of a flavor.
FINAL PRODUCT EVAPORATIVE
DRYING 10. Foaming agents – maintain uniform aeration of gases
(MSG) CRYSTALLIZATION
GLUTAMIC
ACID SALT
in foods.
11. Mineral salts – enhance texture and flavor.
Is MSG Safe? 12. Preservatives – stop microbes from multiplying and
MSG is permitted for use in Australian foods as FSANZ research spoiling the food.
shows that it is safe for general consumption at the current 13. Thickeners and vegetable gums – enhance texture and
levels. consistency.
Other international agencies such as the US Food and Drug 14. Stabilizers and firming agents – maintain even food
Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization dispersion.
(WHO) have also verified the safety of MSG. 15. Flour treatment – improves baking quality.
Reports that the use of MSG in food is harmful were denied by a 16. Glazing agent – improves appearance and can protect
National Academy of Science- National Research Council report food.
in 1971. 17. Gelling agents – alter the texture of foods through gel
formation.
Glutamic acid functions as a neurotransmitter in your brain. It is 18. Propellants – help propel food from a container.
an excitatory neurotransmitter, meaning that it stimulates 19. Raising agents – increase the volume of food through
nerve cells in order to relay its signal. Some people claim that the use of gases.
MSG leads to excessive glutamate in the brain and excessive 20. Bulking agents – increase the volume of food without
major changes to its available energy
