Narrowing the Options – Screening Tips

Applying a flavor to your end application is the best way to evaluate a flavor for profile, level, and stability. Unfortunately, this is not always practical in the beginning stages of a project, when you are inundated with choices and short on time. So how do you narrow the options without using the unreliable “sniff-the-bottle” test? Let us help.

We suggest screening for profile first by setting up the flavors in a tasting medium. This technique will help you get a true impression of the flavor’s profile without going to the point of applying every option to your finished product. Once you have narrowed your choices to those flavors that meet your desired profile, you can proceed with a thorough battery of tests to determine level and assure stability.

Included below is a matrix of flavor types and the tasting medium we suggest for initial tasting.

Type of Flavor

Tasting Medium

How to Make Tasting Medium

Sweets 1 (water soluble)

8% Sweet Water (SW)

Dissolve 8 grams of sugar into 92 grams of distilled water. Stir.

Sweets 1 (oil soluble)

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Mix flavor well in the HFCS.

Sweets 2 (water soluble)

8% Sweet Acid Water

Dissolve 7.9 grams of sugar and 0.1 grams of granulated citric acid into 92 grams of distilled water. Stir.

Sweets 2 (oil soluble)

HFCS (acidified)

Add 0.10 grams Citric Acid to 99.9 grams HFCS

Savory 1 (water soluble)

0.20% Salt Water

Dissolve 0.20 grams of salt into 99.8 grams of distilled water. Stir.

Savory 2 (water)

100% warm (120°F) distilled water

Mix flavor well.

Savory 1 & 2 (oil soluble)

Any type of non-flavored oil

Mix flavor well.

 

Sweets 1 = almond, anise, banana, brown sugar, bubble gum, butterscotch, butter vanilla, cake, caramel, chocolate, cinnamon, coconut, coffee, cookie, cream, egg nog, fudge, graham, honey, licorice, liqueurs, maple, marshmallow, milk*, mocha, molasses, peppermint, prune, pumpkin, raisin, red hot, root beer, spearmint, toffee, vanilla, wintergreen

Sweets 2 = apple, apricot, berry, blueberry, blackberry, boysenberry, cherry, citrus, cranberry, fruit punch, grape, grapefruit, guava, kiwi, lemon, lemon-lime, lime, mango, melon, orange, papaya, passion fruit, peach, pear, pineapple, plum, raspberry, strawberry, tangerine, watermelon, tropical fruits

Savory 1 = beef, butter*, buttermilk*, cheese*, fish, poultry, mushroom, peanut, taco, tomato, garlic, onion, bacon, sausage, ham, pepperoni, pizza, potato, nuts

Savory 2 = barbecue, bread dough, clove, cucumber, carrot, corn, broccoli, eucalyptus, herbal, liquors, pepper, smoke, sour cream*, wine

*Note that dairy product flavors, such as butter, buttermilk, milk, cheese, sour cream, and yogurt, can also be tasted in milk.

 

Do you need an even faster way to get to the best flavor? Let us do the work! Talk to your account executive about sending your base to our solutions teams today.

 

 
FONA

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