What is Flavor

What is Flavor
Flavor can be defined as follows: “flavor is the sensation produced by a material taken in the mouth, perceived principally by the senses of state and smell, and also by the general pain, tactile and temperature receptors in the mouth.

Flavor also denotes the sum of the characteristics of the material which produce that sensation.”

This definition makes clear that flavor is a property of a material (a food) as well as of the receptor mechanism of the person ingesting the food.

The study of flavor includes the composition of food compounds having taste or smell, as well as the interaction of these compounds with the receptors in the taste and smell sensory organs.

Following an interaction, the organs produce signals that are carried to the central nervous system thus creating what we understand as flavor.

Although flavor is composed mainly of taste and odor, other qualities contribute to the overall sensation.

Texture has a very definite effect. Smoothness, roughness, granularity and viscosity can all influence flavor, as can hotness of spies, coolness of menthol, brothiness or fullness of certain amino acids, and the tastes described as metallic and alkaline.

Flavor regardless of the medium in which they are dissolved, do not stay at the same intensity day after day, but diminish over time.

Sensory chemists and flavor technologists know that one way to keep the food products sold by manufacturers from losing their appeal is to prevent the volatile compounds responsible for flavor from deteriorating, escaping or reacting with other substances.
What is Flavor