Flavor enhancer, additives

The smell of ambergris can vary from mildly sweet and earthy to downright stinky and offensive. It is unsurpassed as a fixative of all kinds of scents and has been sought after for hundreds of years as a necessary component in fine perfume. It is also used in medicines, as an aphrodisiac, and as an flavor-enhancing additive in food and wine. Ambergris has been synthesized with some success. 

K. is produced by the aerobic fermentation of glucose, glycerol, arabinose solutions and liom a wide range of other carbon sources with Aspergillus sp. K. shows some antibiotic and weak insecticidal activity. It has been converted to - maltol and ethyl maltol as flavor-enhancing additives. 

Nonnutrient Additives. Nonnutritional dietary additives provide antioxidants to preserve freshness, flavor enhancers to stimulate food selection, color to meet the owner s expectations, pellet biaders to minimi2e fine particles, mycostats to minimi2e mold growth, and iagredient-flow enhancers. Pet foods do not iaclude coccidiostats, antibiotics, added hormonal materials, and fly-larval iasecticides used ia other animal feeds. 

Defatted peanuts are high in protein, low in moisture, contain only 20% of the naturally occurring fat, and have better stability than whole peanuts. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been used as a flavor enhancer for defatted nuts, but the result has not been entirely satisfactory as the addition of MSG produces a meaty rather than nutty flavor. This meaty flavor is more compatible with salted butter and nuts than with candy. 

Maltol. Otsuka Chemical Co. in Japan has operated several electroorganic processes on a small commercial scale. It has used plate and frame and aimular cells at currents in the range of 4500—6000 A (133). The process for the synthesis of maltol [118-71 -8], a food additive and flavor enhancer, starts from furfural [98-01-1] (see Food additives Flavors and spices). The electrochemical step is the oxidation of a-methylfurfural to give a cycHc acetal. The remaining reaction sequence is acid-catalyzed ring expansion, epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide, and then acid-catalyzed rearrangement to yield maltol, ie ... 

Peptides are present naturally in foods, arising mainly from the partial degradation of protein polypeptide chains. Some peptides, like the dipeptides carnosine, anserine, and balenine in vertebrate muscle or glutathione in fruits, are not proteinic in origin. In other cases, peptides are present in foods because they are used as additives (sweeteners, flavor enhancers, bulking agents in light drinks, etc.). 

The manufacturers of tobacco products add fillers, flavor enhancers, preservatives, and other additives to make the product more desirable to consumers, especially low-tar brands. Each company s list of additives was a closely guarded trade secret until 1984, when the lists were submitted to the government. The public was barred from seeing the lists until 1994. The initial list contained 700 potential additives, of which 13 are not allowed in food. One additive, ammonia, may be included to boost the absorption of nicotine and enhance the addictive kick. Sweeteners and chocolate may help make cigarettes more attractive to children and first-time users. 

Flavor Enhancers and Synthetic Flavoring Substances Used as Food Additives... 

Food and Agricultural Organization (1976) Turmeric in Specifications for the Identity of Some Food Colors, Flavor Enhancers, WHO Food Additives Series No.1 3, Rome, 1 976. 

Amino acid production by fermentation started around 1960 in Japan. Initially glutamic acid was the main product. It was sold as sodium salt, monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer on oriental cuisine. Other amino acids soon followed. They are used in food and feed to increase the efficiency of low protein substrates. Microbiologically produced enzymes were introduced around 1970. They are used in grain processing, sugar production, fruit juice clarification, and as detergent additives (Table 9.1). 

Ethyl acetate finds particular use as a flavor enhancer in foods and pharmaceuticals because of its fruity taste when diluted. It is included on the US Eood and Drug Administration s Generally Recognized As Safe list for use as a synthetic flavoring agent. Ethyl acetate is also approved for use as an indirect food additive in certain packaging materials. 

Technologically required functional effects can also be achieved by intentionally employing various food additives — food colors, sweeteners, and a host of other compounds — that are not regarded as foodstuffs per se, but are used to modify the rheological properties or acidity, increase the color stability or shelf life, or act as humectants or flavor enhancers (Rutkowski et al., 1997). 

Because minerals are an integral part of many enzymes, they play an important role in food processing, e.g., in alcoholic and lactic fermentation, meat aging, and dairy food production. Many compounds used as food additives or for rheological modification of some foods contain metallic cations in their structure. A number of these compounds function as antimicrobials, sequestrants, antioxidants, flavor enhancers, and buffering agents, and sometimes even as dietary supplements (Table 4.4). 

This is an area that we can only touch on here because it involves several thousand drugs that have not yet been checked out for their effects on foods, digestion, and assimilation. It should include chemical additives in processed foods and substances like sulfites (now banned from use on salad bars) and monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer used often in Chinese restaurants to which some people react strongly. 

---