Refreshingly Authentic

When developing citrus flavors, flavorists often face complex sensorial profiles. And it is not easy to have a true, in-depth understanding of the subtle nuances that differentiates a fruit's chemical makeup as essential and others as not, as citrus does not just mean lemon or orange. The broad range of citrus fruit includes numerous variants and subspecies. Down through the centuries, an enormous variety of fruit have been developed by the hybridation of the first citrus plant, which originated in Asia. Although these fruit have the same origin and are associated with a juicy and refreshing taste experience, they have significant differences in their sensorial profiles.

Despite the varieties available, the most popular citrus fruit worldwide is still the orange (Citrus sinensis). It is a hesperidium, which is a type of a berry. The so-called sweet orange is characterized by a juicy, peely and aldehydic sensory profile, which is lightly sweet and lack herbaceous notes (see Chart 1). In contrast, the lime is dominantly zesty, fresh and sharp. It has a less sweet and fruity note (see Chart 2). In between these two examples lies a range of citrus fruit with innumerable taste nuances from zesty to fragrant, herbal to fruity and sweet to bitter.

Frutarom's newly developed Citrus Competence framework contains a broad portfolio of quality, authentic citrus tonalities that are in line with the current trend for naturalness. The flavors are paired with the required ‘technical' ingredients such as emulsions or cloudifiers for further applications. This concept takes the company back to its roots - in its early days, Frutarom combined the cultivation of citrus fruits, aromatic plants and flowers with the extraction and distillation of flavors, fine ingredients and essential oils cultivated on its plantations. Since then, the company has acquired a comprehensive pool of expertise at its disposal, which helps to recreate the challenging diversity of natural flavor notes that abound in nature.

There can be great differences in regional preferences for fruit. In Western Europe, an authentic orange profile is characterized by descriptors such as juicy, fresh and ripe, which mimics those associated with a freshly picked orange, perhaps of Jaffa origin. Meanwhile, in China, where people are accustomed to a different type of orange, a pithier and less sweet taste is preferred. These aspects were considered when the Citrus Competence portfolio was created for manufacturers to achieve desired flavors.

Tasty factor

With Citrus Competence, alien tonalities were avoided in order to ensure that the end profile was as close to the fruit as possible. The maxim was to create a "true to life" profile, where "tasty" and "citrus-like" were not enough - the flavors had to mirror exactly the real taste of the fruit. From a technical perspective, this meant only taking what nature provides and handling it gently enough to ensure authentic profiles. The project's development conforms to the European Flavour Regulation 1334/2008, which came into force in January 2011. The new regulation states that in order for a natural flavor to be classified as a natural X-flavoring on a label, at least 95% of the flavor used must come from the named source. The other 5% must also originate from natural sources and it can be added to create a particular flavor note.

Tailored beverage solutions

Citrus Competence has 27 quality natural flavor variants such as Orange, Lemon, Grapefruit, Lime, Mandarin, Tangerine, Clementine, Pomelo, Yuzu and Blood Orange. Each shows good stability and can be incorporated alone or in combination into non-alcoholic beverages such as flavored water, carbonated soft drinks, juices and juice drinks, as well as alcoholic drinks such as beers, vodka and wine cocktails. The flavors are also suitable for applications such as dairy and confectionery.

Since it is not possible to use the same type of flavor for each application, the end use will determine the flavor chosen. Neat, single strength oil may for example be suitable for use in confectionery, but it will not work in a beverage due to the high amount of terpene hydrocarbons - the main insoluble parts of citrus essential oils. Terpenes make up in excess of 90% of many citrus oils but account for far less when it comes to flavor profile and strength. As they are extremely insoluble in water, the terpene content of the oil has to be significantly reduced for use in beverages. Together with the client, the end use is considered thoroughly and only the flavor that produces the best possible outcome will be chosen for a particular application.

Technical processing

Frutarom has developed a range of emulsions and stable, cost effective cloudifiers that are suitable for use with the flavors and enable manufacturers to create stable beverage mixtures with good shelf appearance. This solves the technical problem of ‘ringing', which often accompanies emulsions - as the density of oil differs from that of the end beverage, a ring can form around the top of the bottle, with possible sedimentation at the bottom.

This is achieved when oil droplets are suspended in water, as a stabilizer is used (most commonly gum acacia or modified starch). When added to water, these ingredients create a continuous phase. In the EU, ester gum (glycerol esters of wood rosin) or sucrose acetate iso butyrate (SAIB) are generally used in order to aid stability in the oil phase. These ingredients adjust the density of the oil phase to bring it closer to that of water and - even more importantly - create an electrostatic steric effect. This causes tiny oil droplets (approximately 1 μM in diameter) to be suspended in the water and to repel each other.

While these are the more traditional methods of producing clouds for beverages, they are either unnatural or have E-numbers. Frutarom has therefore developed a cloud solution called CL100. CL stands for clean label bearing claims such as ‘citrus extract' and ‘natural flavoring'. Manufacturers need not fulfill special requirements, procedures and other adjustments when handling the citrus flavors during production. However, when the flavors are used in beverages containing carbohydrates, it is advisable for the flavors to be added to high concentrations of the beverage as they promote solubility.These flavors can also be added to juices, which are best done in the mixing phases. The handling of flavors will depend on the type of beverage application due to the solubility factor. To maintain the stability of citrus extracts, it is best to store them away from sunlight and in a cool environment. Full containers should be used where possible. The mixing of the end product should be carried out thoroughly and under a protective atmosphere, as excessive oxygen, heat or UV light exposure are to avoided.

Conclusion

Looking back at the market developments last year, there is a huge potential for natural citrus flavors as market analysts say juices, carbonated soft drinks and bottled water have all grown significantly in recent years. Manufacturers should therefore work towards aligning their business goals, partners and products to catch the next wave of opportunities.