VANILLIN PRODUCTION chocolates

The food flavor industry is the largest user of vanillin, an indispensable ingredient in chocolate, candy, bakery products, and ice cream. Commercial vanilla extracts are made by macerating one part of vanilla beans with ten parts of 40—50% alcohol. Although vanillin is the primary active ingredient of vanilla beans, the full flavor of vanilla extract is the result of the presence of not only vanillin but also other ingredients, especially Httle-known resinous materials which contribute greatly to the quaUty of the flavor. 

In flavor formulations, vanillin is used widely either as a sweetener or as a flavor enhancer, not only in imitation vanilla flavor, but also in butter, chocolate, and aU. types of fmit flavors, root beer, cream soda, etc. It is widely acceptable at different concentrations 50—1000 ppm is quite normal in these types of finished products. Concentrations up to 20,000 ppm, ie, one part in fifty parts of finished goods, are also used for direct consumption such as toppings and icings. Ice cream and chocolate are among the largest outlets for vanillin in the food and confectionery industries, and their consumption is many times greater than that of the perfume and fragrance industry. 

Uses. The main application of vanillin is the flavoring of foods (e.g., ice cream, chocolate, bakery products, and confectioneries). Small quantities are used in perfumery to round and fix sweet, balsamic fragrances. Vanillin is also used as a brightener in galvanotechnical processes and is an important intermediate in, for example, the production of pharmaceuticals such as L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA) and methyldopa. 

Vanillin is added, in powder form during the manufacturing process of chocolate, in average amounts of 20 g per 100 kg of the finished product. However, this amount varies according to the quality of the chocolate being made. 

The cocoa butter can be partly or wholly substituted by other fats. If more than 20% of the cocoa butter is substituted by another fat then the product is regarded as chocolate imitation. In addition to vanillin and/or ethylvanillin or other flavourings are added to the so-called chocolate imitations (e.g. chocolate, coffee, hazelnut, orange). 

Vanillin and ethylvanillin are not particularly stable chemically. This is not surprising, since they possess both an aldehyde and a phenolic group. In functional products, where the pH is not neutral, they undergo a variety of reactions leading to discoloration. For example, inclusion of vanillin in a white soap will, after a matter of days, produce a colour close to that of chocolate. 

Flavour enhancers and suppressers are used in low concentrations to enhance or suppress other flavours. Examples include maltol and ethylmaltol, which have a low caramel taste and enhance the sugary feeling of products furaneol, which is used with red fruits or wild fruit flavours and vanillin, which softens bitter chocolate and fruit flavours and can also enhance the perception of sweetness. In general, sucrose suppresses bitter, sour and salty tastes, for example in chocolate, and enhances fruit flavours. A further important point for ice cream is that the perception of flavour is affected by temperature flavours are less intense at low temperatures. For this reason, ice cream and water ices are generally more strongly flavoured than products consumed at warmer temperatures, such as soft drinks (Experiment 17 in Chapter 8 demonstrates this). 

In terms of production quantity, vanillin is one of the most important scent and aroma chemicals. It is the main component of natural vanilla flavour, which has been used as a spice for centuries. Nowadays, vanilla is used as a flavour in many desserts, drinks, chocolate, confectionery, ice cream and bakery products, as well as in perfumery. 

Chocolate represents a highly complex flavor system for which no single character impact has been identified. Vanillin and Furaneol contribute to the sweet, caramel background character of milk chocolate (57). 5-Methyl-2-phenyl-2-hexenal provides a deep bitter, cocoa note, and is the aldol reaction product from phenylacetaldehyde and 3-methylbutanal, two Strecker aldehydes formed in chocolate (58). 2-Methoxy-5-methylpyrazine and isoamyl phenylacetate have chocolate, cocoa, nutty and cocoa-like notes, respectively, and both are used in synthetic chocolate flavors (59). Systematic studies of key odorants in milk chocolate were performed using aroma extract dilution analysis however, character impact compounds unique to chocolate flavor were not reported (57,60). 

---