Yes, I ate the entire fish. No regrets. #CleanPlateClub
Photo # 10
Blog Post: Week of December 31st
Renee Heiss’ article, Flavorful Food, details the chemistry of natural and
artificial compounds that contribute to the flavors found in the foods that we
eat every day. The article directly asks answers the question of “Why do
foods taste the way they do?”, “Why do people have different reactions to the
same food?” and “How does chemistry relate to flavors (artificial and
natural)?” Then, it goes into more
detail and asks “What are Esters and where do we find them (in foods and
everyday items)?”
Heiss explains that there are four factors that
contribute to a food’s flavor- its texture, its color, its temperature and its
aroma. Different chemical compounds create flavors in foods; for example,
chocolate is a mixture of 300 flavor compounds. Flavor chemists use a variety
of chemical compounds to create artificial flavors. By extracting the juice of an orange by
removing the water in the juice, for example, flavor chemists can create an
orange flavor/concentrate used in the drink mix, Tang.
Furthermore, the article discusses esters, which
are chemical compounds that create artificial aromas, formed by the chemical
reaction of an alcohol and a carboxylic acid (OH). For example, combining ethanol (an alcohol),
botanic acid creates ethyl butanoate (the ester), which eventuates with a
pineapple odor.
The purpose of the article as a whole was to
inform readers about the foods we eat and why they taste the way they do,
natural or artificial. Most people don’t
understand the chemistry behind the flavors in the foods that we eat, such as
simple fruits. The article also educates
readers about the use of chemistry of artificial flavorings and aromas. People take flavors for granted, without
understanding the chemistry.
Personally, from this article, I learned a lot
about the flavor profiles of the foods I use and eat every day. I pride myself as an amateur baker/pastry
chef, so understanding the chemistry of flavorful foods doesn’t change my
perspective of food, but rather makes me feel better educated and
self-satisfied that I understand what I am doing when I add a teaspoon of
vanilla extract to a cupcake batter.
I learned that the aroma of foods is just as
important as the actual flavor of the food.
The aroma travels from a channel between the throat and the nose which
strengthens the flavor of food. I also
learned that artificial and natural flavors are both chemical compounds, though
most people assume that only artificial flavors are chemicals. Artificial flavors are actually derived from
chemical compounds found in plants, fruits and animals. In addition, I learned that artificial flavors
come in different forms. So, limonene
used in lemon-lime candies is different from the mix of chemical compounds in
lemon-lime drinks, such as Sprite (which I drink quite often) because limonene
is not soluable in water. I also learned
that when ethanol (the alcohol found in alcoholic drinks) is combined with an
acid, such as the ones we learned about in class like heptanoic acid, it
creates and completely new flavor and aroma.
These esters are used in both foods and the hand soaps, lotions, and
perfumes that we use every day.
After reading this article, I am left with a few
questions. For example, other than the natural components from an orange for
example, what compounds/chemicals (unnatural or natural) are used to create
artificial flavors, such as those used in Tang or in Sprite? Also, are there chemical reactions to create
different textures in a food (the article discusses both flavor and aroma)?
