Flavour enhancers

A "flavorant" is defined as a substance that gives another substance flavor, altering the characteristics of the solute, causing it to become sweet, sour, tangy, etc. A flavor is a quality of something that affects the sense of taste.

Of the three chemical senses, smell is the main determinant of a food item's flavor. Five basic tastes – sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (savory) are universally recognized, although some cultures also include pungency and oleogustus ("fattiness"). The number of food smells is unbounded; a food's flavor, therefore, can be easily altered by changing its smell while keeping its taste similar. This is exemplified in artificially flavored jellies, soft drinks and candies, which, while made of bases with a similar taste, have dramatically different flavors due to the use of different scents or fragrances. The flavorings of commercially produced food products are typically created by flavorists.

## Flavorants or flavorings

Flavorings are focused on altering the flavors of natural food product such as meats and vegetables, or creating flavor for food products that do not have the desired flavors such as candies and other snacks. Most types of flavorings are focused on scent and taste. Few commercial products exist to stimulate the trigeminal senses, since these are sharp, astringent, and typically unpleasant flavors.

Three principal types of flavorings are used in foods, under definitions agreed in the EU and Australia:

Natural flavoring substances
These flavoring substances are obtained from plant or animal raw materials, by physical, microbiological, or enzymatic processes. They can be either used in their natural state or processed for human consumption, but cannot contain any nature-identical or artificial flavoring substances.
Nature-identical flavoring substances
These are obtained by synthesis or isolated through chemical processes, which are chemically and organoleptically identical to flavoring substances naturally present in products intended for human consumption. They cannot contain any artificial flavoring substances.
Artificial flavoring substances
These are not identified in a natural product intended for human consumption, whether or not the product is processed. These are typically produced by fractional distillation and additional chemical manipulation of naturally sourced chemicals, crude oil, or coal tar. Although they are chemically different, in sensory characteristics they are the same as natural ones.
Most artificial flavors are specific and often complex mixtures of singular naturally occurring flavor compounds combined together to either imitate or enhance a natural flavor. These mixtures are formulated by flavorists to give a food product a unique flavor and to maintain flavor consistency between different product batches or after recipe changes. The list of known flavoring agents includes thousands of molecular compounds, and the flavor chemist (flavorist) can often mix these together to produce many of the common flavors. Many flavorants consist of esters, which are often described as being "sweet" or "fruity".

The compounds used to produce artificial flavors are almost identical to those that occur naturally. It has been suggested that artificial flavors may be safer to consume than natural flavors due to the standards of purity and mixture consistency that are enforced either by the company or by law. Natural flavors, in contrast, may contain impurities from their sources, while artificial flavors are typically more pure and are required to undergo more testing before being sold for consumption.

Flavors from food products are usually the result of a combination of natural flavors, which set up the basic smell profile of a food product, while artificial flavors modify the smell to accent it.

Unlike smelling, which occurs upon inhalation, the sensing of flavors in the mouth occurs in the exhalation phase of breathing and is perceived differently by an individual. In other words, the smell of food is different depending on whether one is smelling it before or after it has entered one's mouth.

### Taste

While salt and sugar can technically be considered flavorants that enhance salty and sweet tastes, usually only compounds that enhance umami, as well as other secondary flavors, are considered and referred to as taste flavorants. Artificial sweeteners are also technically flavorants.

Umami or "savory" flavorants, more commonly called taste or flavor enhancers, are largely based on amino acids and nucleotides. These are typically used as sodium or calcium salts. Umami flavorants recognized and approved by the European Union include:

 Glycine salts
 Guanylic acid salts
 Inosinic acid salts
 5'-ribonucleotide salts

Certain organic and inorganic acids can be used to enhance sour tastes, but like salt and sugar, these are usually not considered and regulated as flavorants under law. Each acid imparts a slightly different sour or tart taste that alters the flavor of a food.

## Flavour enhancers

**Flavour enhancers** are food additives commonly added to food and designed to enhance the existing flavours of products. In western cultures, the 5th taste or umami went unrecognized for a long time. It was believed that flavour enhancers did not add any new taste of their own. It is now understood that these substances activate taste receptors for umami, and thus add this taste to products.

The commonly used flavour enhancers are:

### European (by E number)

* Glutamic acid (an amino acid) and its salts:
	+ E620 Glutamic acid
	+ E621 Monosodium glutamate, MSG
	+ E622 Monopotassium glutamate
	+ E623 Calcium diglutamate
	+ E624 Monoammonium glutamate
	+ E625 Magnesium diglutamate
* Guanylic acid (a ribonucleotide) and its salts:
	+ E626 Guanylic acid
	+ E627 Disodium guanylate, sodium guanylate
	+ E628 Dipotassium guanylate
	+ E629 Calcium guanylate
* Inosinic acid (a ribonucleotide) and its salts:
	+ E630 Inosinic acid
	+ E631 Disodium inosinate
	+ E632 Dipotassium inosinate
	+ E633 Calcium inosinate
* Mixtures of guanylate and inosinate:
	+ E634 Calcium 5'-ribonucleotides
	+ E635 Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides
* Maltol and ethyl maltol:
	+ E636 Maltol
	+ E637 Ethyl maltol
* Amino acids and their salts:
	+ E640 Glycine and its sodium salt
	+ E641 L-Leucine