Fruit Flavours Trend and Development

Flavour is a complex sensation. It is the integration of the sensations of odor, basic tastes, feeling factors, and texture. When a substance (food) is placedin the mouth,  vapour from this food travels from the oral cavity to the nasal area where it registers in the brain as the sensation of odour. The smell is the sense by which certain properties of volatile substances can be perceived on the sensitive membranes in the nose. The mouthfeel is the tactile sensation created in the mouth when a food is chewed or dissolved combined with the tasting and smelling sensations. The acceptability of a flavour is also complex. The human brain has an amazing memory for tastes

and smells and can recall not only what, but often even where and when, it was previously exposed to them. Flavours can be divided into two categories. The first includes those registered by the taste buds of the tongue and palate, which respond to such qualities as saltiness, sweetness, sourness and bitterness, while the second consists of aromatic flavours such as those originating

from fruits, flowers and animals. Aromatic flavours, being volatile,are perceived by the sense ofsmell, being detected by the olfactory nerves. The combined effects of taste and aroma produce the entire sensation. The largest group of flavours originate from planet materials, usually the fruits or leaves of plants. Volatile oils consist of terpenes, which are comparatively free from flavour, together with oxygenated bodies upon which the odour and flavour depend. Terpenes contribute to the full flavour in that they impart a natural freshness and body, but they are insoluable. Scientists have tried to copy naturally derived flavours; attempts have been made to break down scientifically the natural flavour into its elements to ascertain what finds the palate; having detected the chemicals present, then to rebuild this natural flavour with the same chemicals obtained from other sources. Many have been successes; there have been many failures too. It has been estimated that we can distinguish at least 10,000 different odours and our memory for odours is precise and almost never-fading. It is rarely economical to use the natural material for flavouring purposes; in consequence, excellent blended flavours having as their basis natural materials fortified by the addition of small amounts of synthetics are available as also are some [purely synthetic flavours.

Although called “synthetic” the materials from which synthetic flavours are manufactured ar often natural. For example, clove oil, obtained by the steam distillation of clove buds, contains a high proportion of eugenol, which when subjected to a series of chemical reactions of oxidized to vanillin. This materials is identical with the vanillin

occurring naturally in the vanilla bean, but owing to the absence of the accompanying aromatic substances and resins, synthetic vanillin has a slightly inferior bouquet. By sophisticated chemical analysis it is possible to identify the individual compounds that make up a particular flavour. It may be uneconomic to extract the flavour element from the original source but chemically synthesised ingredients can be blended in the same proportions as were found in the natural flavour. Flavours made this way are described as “nature identical flavours”. The inference is that natural flavours are safer than blends made up from a library of aromatic compounds but logically this is not the case. The largest group of flavours used in confectionery are those derived from or simulating fresh fruit. After the citrus fruits, strawberry, raspberry, pineapple, cherry, pear, apricot and peach are popular favourites. Each is distinctive and each has a characteristic degree of acidity and sweetness. The flavour is due to volatile oils and aromatic compounds which occur in such minute quantities that is not economical to extract them. Some of the highest quality flavours have as their basis tinctures prepared by macerating fresh peel from citrus fruits, or the whole fruit in the case of soft fruits, in alcohol. An entirely subjective assessment of the performance andcharacter of a flavour. Some have claimed; a good flavour is one that sells. This may be true however, many systems are developed to be just good enough for the market and could be optimized. Also other flavour parameters might not surface until longer ambient shelf-life conditions are maintained. Also, one person’s ’real flavour maybe another’s lack of excitement. This is due to the complexity of people’s likes, dislikes, and sensory sensitivities. A change has been taking place in the beverages sector in recent years. Consumers no longer consider beverages simply as theirst-quenchers, but rather as health products that have a content of specific ingredients which form part of their lifestyle. This development in functional beverages addresses different needs and lifestyles – to boost energy, fight ageing, fatigue, stress, target specific disease and well-being.

New product development (NPD) continues to be a key activity for companies to retain and grow market share. The global market places that these new products are intended for and the factors that shape them continue to evolve, and so do the consumer understanding and research methodologies that underpin NPD. Product development is a knowledge-intensive process where the generation of new ideas and concepts requires detailed knowledge of both products and consumers. As our understanding of human health has advanced, society’s demand for food and products that improve health, wellness and lifestyle has grown. The opportunity will no longer be about new beverages development, but beverages development for the health concerns. A functional beverage is usually formulated by adding functional ingredients considered less healthy such as sugar and fat.

Research of functional beverages has progressed to incorporate consumer awareness of health and the demand for new development in beverages. This is increasing the challenge for research and development teams to obtain more scientific data about healthy molecules and to develop functional drinks with good taste, texture and flavour. There are new developments in functional fruit drinks with bioactive components and a number of developments realised with different polyphenols (antioxidant-properties-properties). The addition of fibre as a functional ingredient within the beverage matrix can have a direct effect on the mouthfeel, texture and flavour release. Sports drinks, which can supply substrate in the form carbohydrates as well as water to replace sweat losses, have a clear role to play during any activity where fatigue is likely to influence the outcome. Sports drinks should be formulated to be effective in improving performance, but there is no universal agreement on the most effective formulation. There has been a long history of micronutrient addition to soft drinks and beverages. Studies on the fortification of beverages with vitamins and minerals have demonstrated positive health effects. The use of mineral salts to provide the nutritional minerals and trace elements requires considerable care and a good knowledge of their chemical and physical properties. Important to add that the global functional juice category is primarily dominated by calcium-fortified and other nutrient enriched fruit juices. Consumer acceptance of novel products such as functional foods and beverages are slower than for conventional products; the high reported failure rates of 70 – 90% for new functional foods and beverages indicate that many of these products meet with poor consumer acceptance, often the flavours was the cause. The health effects of all beverages, caloric and non-caloric and includes a ranking. The rankings placed drinking water as the preferred beverage to fulfil daily water needs, followed by tea and coffee, low-fat (1.5% or 1%) skim milk and soy beverages, non-calorically sweetened beverages, beverages with some nutritional benefits (fruit/vegetable juices, whole milk, alcohol, and sport drinks), and ending with lowest priority for calorically sweetened, nutrient-poor beverages. Young adults ages between 18 and 34 years are considered the core target market for energy and stimulant drinks, and it is predicted that juices and juice drinks will lead NPD activities for both belly benefit and stimulant drinks. Differentiating fruit juice-based stimulant beverages from traditional carbonated stimulant beverages on a functional platform that emphasises refreshment and naturalness, rather than healthiness, appears to offer a distinct competitive advantage from the consumers’ perspective. Tropical and subtropical fruits provide an optimal mixture of phytochemicals, such as vitamins C and E, carotenoids and flavonoids along with complex carbohydrates and fiber. These phytochemicals are able to scavenge or quench free radicals, diminishing the risk of suffering some disease types. The ability of fruit phytochemicals to avoid oxidation of a substrate with their antioxidant activity. Individual phytochemicals contribute to different extents to the total antioxidant capacity of fruits and have synergistic effects.

The top five tropical and subtropical fruits in terms of production volume are watermelon, orange, grape, banana and tangerine/mandarin. Tropical and subtropical fruit plants come from a wide range of botanical families, are of different types, including vines (e.g. passion fruit) herbaceous crops (e.g. bananas) and woody plants (e.g. oranges) and produce various kinds of fruits such as berries (e.g. blueberry), drupes (e.g. mangoes) nutlets (e.g. litchis) and compound fruit (e.g. pineapples). Such of the steadily growing appeal of tropical and subtropical fruits can be attributed to the new and nutritious tastes and flavours they offer to consumers globally. The non-calorically sweetened beverages (diet sodas and other “diet” drinks) are preferable to calorically beverages because they provide water and sweetness, but no calories. Consumers are increasingly seeking beverages alternatives perceived as natural or healthy, such as flavoured and near-water drinks, chilled juices and non-carbonated fruit juice drinks, ready-to-drink ice tea, soy drinks, and functional beverages. Over the past decade, major increases in obesity and overweight have occurred across the globe. In the quantities consumed today, soft drinks and fruit drinks most likely contribute to the obesity epidemic by facilitating excess energy intake. Fruit juices (100% juice) provide most of the nutrients of their natural source, but are also relatively high in energy content and may lack fiber. Isolated soy proteins are an important category of plant-derived ingredients, which are used in a variety of healthy beverages today. The high nutritional quality and health benefits of these plant proteins have been proved. Protein and specifically protein via isolated soy protein has been formulated into many of these beverages. Consumers recognize the basic need for high-quality protein in their diets and also appreciate the health benefits. Similarly, in the energy and stimulant drinks categories, product formulations are moving away from citrus flavours towards exotic fruit-based flavours eg: star fruit, sugar apple, longan, golden apple, cactus pear, cashew apple. The addition of flavour, colour and sucrose to milk has increased the popularity of milk as a beverage. Teas and tea-based products have become some of the most important beverages around the world. Their consumption has grown in popularity due primarily to their claimed stimulant, health properties and many flavours. Fruit juice and juice drinks have come to represent important carriers or base products for a multitude of cross-category functional ingredients, ranging from probiotics, fibre and plant sterols to omega-3, collagen and glucosamine. Vegetable juices (eg; tomatoe and multi-vegetable juices) are a healthy alternative to fruit juices. They have few categories per 100ml. Drinks must taste good if they are to be a commercial success, and the importance of taste in encouraging consumption. Although consumers are demanding healthy beverages, they still want products with good texture, flavour and taste. New Energy Drinks.

These highly-caffeinated high-energy drinks have exploded on the beverage market globally, and generated a whole new generation of imitation caloric or – in many cases – sweetened beverages. Calorie-burning beverages. They do not explicitly claim this as a beverage to help you lose weight, but the advertising campaign promotes a beverage that burns calories and discusses negative calories, imply that it could or should. These new calorie-burning beverages all utilize elements from tea as a basic mechanism to achieve their goal.

Health waters and other drinkable elixirs: there are also the new drinkable skincare or “healthier functional beverages”, many of these drinkable skincare bottles contains mixtures of vitamins and plant extracts that promise to enhance the skin. Another area that blooms is wine, malt and spirit based coolers containing 3 – 7% alcohol. They are often marketed to young people and packaged to look like sodas and are certainly popular and this is due purely to the variety of flavours available i.e.: mainly the berry family plus tropical. New flavours surely create excitement !! (They do)!! There have been a number of fruit juice-based functional cosmetic beverages launched in Europe containing coenzyme Q10 plus a cocktail of pure grapefruit, guava, lemon and lychee juice with ginger, minerals, aloe vera, collaged and added vitamins to cleanse the digestive system, and support the construction and generation of newcells while helping to keep hair and skin cells healthy. Then there are also juice drinks enriched with collaged, elastin and hyaluronic acid in the same proportion as found in the human skin. Are there definite benefits? And not to ignore the complex of natural ingredients such as omega 6 starflower oil, green tea polyphenols, vitamin E and an exclusive probiotic culture to improve skin health. Where will this end? (if ever)? What are the popular flavour “blends”? egmangosteen and rambutan, pomegranate and blueberry, raspberry and orange, grapefruit and peach, passion and melon, kiwi and mango, cranberry and coconut. The list of actives contains aloe vera, collagen peptides, royal jelly and vitamins A,C and E to rejuvenate skin cells contains omega-3 and lutein (marigold extract) to promote healthy eyes and aloe vera, collagen peptides and vitamins A,C and E to rejuvenate skin cells. We should never forget that ingredients used for flavouring must be of the highest quality and of uniform strength, essential oils and flavours in carefully measured quantities, not only will mediocre batches and output of indifferent quality be avoided, but goods will be characterized by their delicacy and excellence of flavour. Six general trends have influenced food and beverage innovations; flavour convenience, pleasure, ethnic fusion, tradition and important, health and wellness. Flavour is a personal, individualistic subtlety, and sub-titled “expectation, realisation and satisfaction”. That says it all.

flavours available i.e.: mainly the berry family plus tropical. New flavours surely create excitement !! (They do)!! There have been a number of fruit juice-based functional cosmetic beverages launched in Europe containing coenzyme Q10 plus a cocktail of pure grapefruit, guava, lemon and lychee juice with ginger, minerals, aloe vera, collaged and added vitamins to cleanse the digestive system, and support the construction and generation of newcells while helping to keep hair and skin cells healthy. Then there are also juice drinks enriched with collaged, elastin and hyaluronic acid in the same proportion as found in the human skin. Are there definite benefits? And not to ignore the complex of natural ingredients such as omega 6 starflower oil, green tea polyphenols, vitamin E and an exclusive probiotic culture to improve skin health. Where will this end? (if ever)? What are the popular flavour “blends”? egmangosteen and rambutan, pomegranate and blueberry, raspberry and orange, grapefruit and peach, passion and melon, kiwi and mango, cranberry and coconut. The list of actives contains aloe vera, collagen peptides, royal jelly and vitamins A,C and E to rejuvenate skin cells contains omega-3 and lutein (marigold extract) to promote healthy eyes and aloe vera, collagen peptides and vitamins A,C and E to rejuvenate skin cells. We should never forget that ingredients used for flavouring must be of the highest quality and of uniform strength, essential oils and flavours in carefully measured quantities, not only will mediocre batches and output of indifferent quality be avoided, but goods will be characterized by their delicacy and excellence of flavour. Six general trends have influenced food and beverage innovations; flavour convenience, pleasure, ethnic fusion, tradition and important, health and wellness. Flavour is a personal, individualistic subtlety, and sub-titled “expectation, realisation and satisfaction”. That says it all.

 

Reference

• Functional and speciality beverage technology – dr p paquini: woodhead publishing

• Consumer driven innovation in food and personal care products – drs s r joeger and h macfie

• Biscuits, crackers and cookies. Vol 1: w h smith: applied science

• Biscuit, cookie and cracker manual 1: dr d manley: woodhead pub

By Prof. Aubrey Parsons Flavor Expert from Johannesburg University South of Africa

 

(FOODREVIEW INDONESIA | VOL. VII/NO. 5/MEI 2012)