Nature identical oils

Nature identical oils A combination of synthetically produced chemicals, or chemicals extracted from cheap oils, made to imitate a genuine essential oil. Owing to the complex and variable nature of natural essential oils, synthetics cannot hope to replicate their properties and are not suitable for aromatherapy. 

Nature Identical Flavor Matenal A flavor ingredient obtained by synthesis, or isolated from natural products through chemical processes, chemically identical to the substance present in a natural product and intended for human consumption either processed or not eg, citral obtained by chemical synthesis or from oil of lemongrass through a bisulfite addition compound. 

The most common natural antioxidants are tocopherols, ascorbic acid and P-carotene (more often synthetic nature-identical compounds than natural products). Their changes were studied in detail in model systems, fats and oils, but experimental evidence is mainly lacking on more complicated systems, such as natural foods and ready dishes. Still less is known on different antioxidants from spices and from essential oils. These data will probably be obtained gradually. Very little is known about synergism of antioxidants in food products other than edible fats and oils or their regeneration from the respective free radicals and quinones. In mixtures, some antioxidants are preferentially destroyed and others are saved. Some data have already been published, but these complex changes should be studied in more detail. 

Preservatives which are based on natural ingredients or nature identical are small in numbers and these are gaining the attention of marketers. The ones I am aware of are - Grapefruit Seed extracts and Usnic Acid distributed by Paroxite, Neem seed oil... 

Whether the flavour used is natural, nature identical, synthetic, or a mixture it has to be dosed into the product. Although some flavourings are very intense the volume added to the product has to be large enough for the equipment or the people to add it with sufficient accuracy. The flavour of course has to be uniformly distributed in the product. This normally means producing the flavour as a solution. Flavours are prepared for a particular use. As an example, citrus oil based flavours can be dissolved in various alcohols. 

Nowadays, derivatized cyclodextrins are the most common chiral selector in the direct GC enantiomer separation of flavors, fragrances, essential oils, pheromones and other natural, nature identical and synthetic volatile COmpounds.20.22,23,47,49-57... 

Emberger R, Hopp R, Synthesis and sensory characterization of menthol enantiomers and their derivatives for the use in nature identical peppermint oils, in Berger RG, Nitz N, Schreier P, (eds.). Topics in Flavour Research, H. Eichhorn, Marzling-Hangenham, Germany, pp. 201-218, 1985. 

Mosandl A, On the assessment of natural and nature-identical flavout and essential oil compounds, Chem MikrobiolTechnol Lebensm 14 187—188, 1992. 

Nature-identical aroma substances are, with very few exceptions, the only synthetic compounds used in flavors besides natural products. The primary functions of the olfactory and taste receptors, as well as their evolutionary development, may explain why artificial flavor substances are far less important. The majority of compounds used in fragrances are those identified as components of natural products, e.g., constituents of essential oils or resins. The fragrance characteristics of artificial compounds nearly always mimic those of natural products. 

Eugenol obtained from clove oil is an important precursor for the preparation of vanillin (Scheme 13.10). The reaction consists of two steps. First, eugenol needs to be converted into isoeugenol, which requires alkaline treatment or ruthenium or rhodium catalysis. Second, the isoeugenol is oxidised to vanillin using, for instance, chromic acid. This method results in nature-identical vanillin. 

Natural raw materials are of high importance in flavour development. Natural isolates (Table 21.2) serve as a basis for most natural flavourings which can be blended with single natural aroma chemicals. The performance of nature-identical flavourings will be supported by using extracts and oils as they significantly enhance the complexity of flavourings and increase their authenticity. 

Phenylethanol has a rose-like odour and makes the chemically produced compound the most used fragrance chemical in perfume and cosmetics, with a world market of about 7,000 t year [107, 108]. 2-Phenylethanol is also found in many foods as a characteristic flavour compound rounding off the overall aroma, especially in foods obtained by fermentation, such as wine, beer, cheese, tea leaves, cocoa, coffee, bread, cider and soy sauce [109]. In food applications, natural 2-phenylethanol is preferred rather than its nature-identical counterpart from chemical synthesis and it has a market volume of 0.5-11 year . This product is sold at market prices of up to US 1,000 per kiklogram and is mainly produced by yeast-based bioprocesses since its isolation from natural sources, e.g. rose oil, would be too costly [109]. 

An essential oil may also have measured amounts of nature identical compounds added, e.g. a-pinene added to frankincense. Figure 4.5 shows a chromatographic fingerprint of a genuine and a compounded frankincense oil. 

FIGURE 2-30. Comparison of lemon oils. Use of synthetic lemon oils gives lemon-flavored beverages an off taste. Natural lemon oils contain high molecular weight, nonvolatile components which are normally absent from synthetics. These compounds do not show up on the survey print of lemon oil No. 3, indicated by the arrow. This sample is probably synthetic. All the samples were identical by GC. 

The onset of the industrial production of essential oils can be dated back to the first half of the 19 century. After the importance of single aroma chemicals was recognised in the middle of the century, efforts were started to isolate such compounds from corresponding natural resources for the first time. This was soon followed by the synthesis of aroma chemicals. In this context, the most important pioneers of synthetic aroma chemicals have to be mentioned, such as methyl salicylate [1843], cinnamon aldehyde [1856], benzyl aldehyde [1863] and vanillin [1872], as they constitute the precursors of a rapidly growing number of synthetically produced (nature-identical) aroma chemicals in the ensuing years. 

Nature-identical and artificial flavouring substances are produced in order to evoke specific sensorial effects. The potency of the individual compounds is usually described by a set of parameters comprising the odour or taste threshold in the corresponding matrix, i.e. water or oil phase, as well as the dynamics of perception as determined by Steven s law [7]. For many compounds a shift of the specific sensorial properties is observed in different concentrations. 

The 5 C-values of natural anethole, mainly the trans-isomer, originating from anise oil, star anise oil or feimel oil [279], are between -26 and -33%o. This broad area of the 5 C-values may be due to the origin from different plant variants and local conditions of biosynthesis. Nature-identical anethole, which is prepared by isomerisation of estragole [279, 282], has 5 C-values with a range from -27.7 to -32.8%o. This is not very surprising, as estragol is often originating from the same natural source as anethole. The C-content of another nature-identical anethole (-30.7 to -32.1%o) may be due to its chemical synthesis from anisol and propionic acid derivatives or prope-nol, respectively [279]. 

Results for other aromatic substances are compiled in Table 6.5, but are not discussed in detail, as the available data do not justify a discussion. Methyl salicylate, the main component of natural wintergreen oil is often used in cosmetic products. The quite negative 8 C-values of the natural product (5 C-values from -32.6 to -33.7%o) are probably partially caused by the extreme depletion of the methyl groups (see 6.2.2.4.4) and permit perhaps a discrimination from the nature-identical product (8 C-values from -27.7 to -30.8%o). The 5 H-values of natural methyl salicylate -130 to - 63%o [3, 270[ are, with the exception of one sample (-56%o), in the range of other natural aromatic substances (e.g. benzaldehyde, cinnamic aldehyde, anethole). Nature-identical analogues show more positive 5 H-values. 

Limonene is widespread in essential oils. The main source for (-i-)-limonene are citrus peel oils. From this source it is obtained in large quantities as a by-product of the orange juice production. Therefore nature-identical products (e.g. from pinene) are not of great importance. The 5 C-values of natural limonene from orange peel oil has been found to range from -26.1 to -28.5%o, and the reported 5 H-values are from -215 to -264%o, in agreement with results for other natural isoprenoids. 

As a rule, distilled flavourings, natural and nature-identical flavourings are strictly speaking insensitive to microbiological action. They frequently contain alcohols and an increased proportion of oil, or they are synthesised from chemicals which act as antimicrobial compounds. In these flavourings, the endogenous factors do not allow microbial growth. It should, however, be mentioned that the dormant form of spore-... 

Natural jasmine oils cost 3000-5000/kg, the nature-identical materials are about one tenth of that price and the price of the simpler analogues is a further order of magnitude, or even more, lower. In addition, because they lack the double bonds, the synthetic materials are more stable in products, such as laundry powder, which contain bleaching agents. All of these materials are used in fragrances, but there... 

---