Flavouring (or flavoring) is a product which is added to food in order to change or augment its taste.

Flavourings can be either natural or artificial, and they are added to many foods made in a factory. There are also so-called nature-identical flavourings, which are the chemical equivalent of natural flavours, only chemically synthesised rather than being extracted from the original source.

To produce artificial flavours, the volatile substance that produces the natural flavour must first be extracted from the source substance. The methods of extraction can involve boiling, leeching, or using force to squeeze it out. This concentrated extract is then passed through a chromatograph, either in liquid or gaseous form. This will provide the requisite information about how the molecules are structured that are needed to produce the taste. The compound is then artificially replicated by the chemist, although it is often difficult to produce an exact match to the original flavour.

Many of the compounds used to produce artificial flavours belong to a chemical category of esters. The list of known flavouring agents includes hundreds of molecular compounds, and the food scientist can often mix these together to produce many of the common flavours.

Chemical	Odour
Isoamyl Acetate	Banana
Ethyl Cinnamate	Cinnamon
Ethyl Propionate	Fruity
Octyl Acetate	Orange
Isoamyl Butyrate	Pear
Methyl Butyrate	Pineapple
Methyl Salicylate	wintergreen

Flavour enhancers are also used to augment the taste of foods.

In terms of health effects, artificial flavours are considered somewhat safer than natural flavours since the former are required to undergo increased testing before being sold for consumption. The compounds used to produce artificial flavours are almost identical to those that occur naturally, and a natural origin for a substance should not necessarily imply that it is safe to consume.

See also

• Food additive
• Preservative
• E number
• Flavour

External link

• The Science in artificial flavor creation (http://www.fks.com/flavors/tech/Science%20of%20Flavor%20Creation.asp)
• How Stuff Works "How do artificial flavors work?" (http://science.howstuffworks.com/question391.htm)

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