Flavors and Fragrances Common Terms

01 Flavors and Fragrances

1. Perfume: also known as fragrant raw materials, it is a substance that can be smelled by the sense of smell or taste, and is the raw material for making flavors. The classification of fragrances can be briefly divided into natural fragrances (animal or plant natural fragrances), artificial fragrances (isolated fragrances, synthetic fragrances).

2. Perfume compound: also known as blended spice, it is a mixture of artificially prepared spices. The essence has a certain fragrance type, such as rose essence, jasmine essence, mint essence, sandalwood essence, pineapple essence, lemon essence and so on. All kinds of flavors used in blending are usually expressed in mass percentage or thousandth.

3. Natural perfume (Natural perfume): This type of perfume is divided into two categories: animal or plant natural perfume, which comes from animals or plants in nature.

There are only four commonly used animal natural fragrances, namely Musk, Civer, Castoreum and Ambergris.

Plant natural flavors are made from flowers, leaves, branches, bark, roots, stems, grass, fruits, seeds, resins, etc. of plants in nature, and are prepared by steam distillation, pressing, leaching or absorption. Products, which are commercially known as essential oils, extracts, absolutes, tinctures, balsams, balms, resins, oleoresins, etc.

4. Synthetic perfume (Synthetic perfume): The perfume compound prepared by chemical synthesis method using natural raw materials or chemical raw materials is called synthetic perfume. At present, there are more than 5,000 kinds of synthetic fragrances in the world, and there are 400 to 500 kinds of commonly used products.

According to the classification of functional groups, it can be divided into ketones, aldehydes, alcohols, acids, esters, lactones, ethers, phenols, nitriles, hydrocarbons, acetal ketals and other fragrances.

According to the classification of atomic skeleton, it can be roughly divided into terpenes, aromatics, aliphatic fragrances, nitrogen-containing, sulfur-containing, heterocyclic and fused-ring fragrances, synthetic musk fragrances, etc.

5. Perfumery isolates: The monomeric fragrance compounds separated from natural fragrances by physical or chemical methods are called isolated fragrances. For example, menthol separated from peppermint oil, citral separated from Radix japonica oil, etc.

6. Spice: Spice plants and their spice products specially used for seasoning. For example, Chinese prickly ash, prickly ash oil, pepper, pepper oil, fennel, fennel oil, etc.

7. Schiff base: Amino-containing compounds, such as the condensation products of anthranilates and aldehydes, are called Schiff bases. Compared with aldehyde-based fragrances, drag-based fragrances have long-lasting fragrance and better chemical stability.

?

02 Common terms in natural flavors

1. Essential oil: Also known as essential oil, volatile oil or aromatic oil, it is the main variety of plant natural fragrances. For most plant raw materials, essential oils are mainly produced by steam distillation and pressing. For example, rose oil, peppermint oil, lavender oil, iris oil, fennel oil, fir oil, etc. are all prepared by this method. For citrus raw materials, essential oils are mainly produced by pressing. For example, tangerine oil, sweet orange oil, grapefruit oil, lemon oil, etc.

2. Extract (Concrete): It is a concentrated non-aqueous solvent extract containing essential oils and vegetable waxes. It is the main variety of natural plant raw materials.

The spice plant raw material is extracted with volatile organic solvent, and then the organic solvent is recovered by distillation, and the distillation residue is the extract. In addition to essential oils, the extract also contains a considerable amount of impurities such as vegetable waxes and pigments, so most of the extracts are dark paste-like live waxes at room temperature. For example, jasmine extract, sweet-scented osmanthus extract, ink red extract, tuberose extract, etc.

3. Tincture: also known as ethanol solution, which uses ethanol as a solvent, at room temperature or under heating conditions, the ethanol leaching solution obtained by leaching plant raw materials, natural resins or animal secretions is obtained by cooling, clarification and filtration. The product. For example, date tincture, coffee tincture, cocoa tincture, black bean tincture, vanilla tincture, musk tincture, etc.

4. Absolute: the extract obtained by extracting extract, balsam or resin with ethanol, after freezing treatment, filtering out insoluble wax and other impurities, and then distilling under reduced pressure to remove ethanol, the resulting fluid or semi-liquid The flowing liquid is collectively referred to as pure oil. The absolute oil is relatively pure, and it is a good product for the preparation of cosmetics and perfumes.

5. Balsam (Pomade): Refined animal fat or vegetable oil is used to absorb the aromatic components in flowers. This kind of fat or oil saturated with aromatic components is collectively called balsam. Balsam can be directly used in cosmetic essence, and can also be extracted with ethanol to prepare balsam oil.

6. Balsam: Balsam is a paste with fragrant ingredients exuded by spice plants due to physiological or pathological reasons. Most of the balms are in semi-solid or viscous liquid state, insoluble in water, and almost all soluble in ethanol. Its main components are benzoic acid and its esters, cinnamic acid and its esters. For example, Peru balm, Tulu balm, benzoin balm, styrax balm, etc.

7. Resin: Resin is divided into natural resin and processed resin. Natural resins refer to solid or semi-solid substances formed by terpenoids exuded from plants by air oxidation. For example, Pistacia chinensis resin, styrax resin, liquidambar resin, etc. Processed resin refers to a product obtained by removing essential oils from natural resins. For example, rosin is obtained by distilling pine resin and removing turpentine.

8. Resinoid: refers to the concentrated extract with characteristic aroma obtained by leaching plant resins or balsam substances with hydrocarbon solvents. Balsamic resins are generally viscous liquid, semi-solid or solid homogeneous mass. For example, mastic resin, benzoin resin, etc.

9. Oloresin: generally refers to the concentrated extract with characteristic aroma or fragrance obtained by extracting natural spice with solvent and then distilling off the solvent. Commonly used solvents are acetone, dichloromethane, isopropanol, etc. Oleoresins are usually viscous liquids with a darker color and an uneven state. For example, chili oleoresin, pepper oleoresin, turmeric oleoresin, etc.

03 Common terms in spice blending

1. Fragrance type (Type): It is used to describe the overall aroma type or style of a certain essence or fragranced product, such as aroma type, rose type, jasmine type, woody type, cologne type, etc.

2. Note: It is used to describe the characteristics of a certain fragrance, essence or fragranced product with a certain aroma tone rather than the overall aroma. Fragrance distinction is a more complicated task.

3. Odor concentration: Also known as aroma intensity, it refers to the strength of the aroma itself. This degree can be judged by the olive value of the aroma. The smaller the olive value, the greater the aroma intensity.

4. Top note: Also known as top note, it refers to the impression of the aroma in the first moment of smelling the essence or the scented product, that is, the aroma characteristic that people can smell first. Top notes are generally produced by fragrances with relatively strong diffusivity. Fragrances that act as top notes in essences become top notes.

5. Body note: Also known as the mid-section fragrance, it is the main fragrance of the essence. Body fragrance is an aroma that is sensed immediately after the top fragrance, and can remain stable and consistent for a long period of time. Body aroma is the most important aroma characteristic of essence. The fragrance that plays the role of body fragrance in the essence is called the main fragrance (Base).

6. Basic note: Also known as tail or bottom note, it is the last aroma left after the top and body notes of the essence have evaporated. This aroma is generally produced by less volatile fragrances or fixatives. The fragrance that plays the role of the base fragrance in the essence is called a fixer.

7. Blending (Blend): refers to the mixing of several spices to make them emit a coordinated aroma. The purpose of blending is to make the aroma of the essence become either beautiful, or fresh, or strong, or weak, so that the main agent of the essence can play a better role. The flavors that play a role in blending in the essence are called blending agents or coordinating agents (Blender).

8. Modify: It refers to using the aroma of a spice to modify the aroma of another spice, so that it has a specific effect in the essence, so that the aroma becomes unique. Fragrances that modify the essence are called modifiers or modifiers (Modifier)

9. Fragrance base (Base): also known as flavor base, which is the main agent of the flavor composed of several flavors. Fragrance bases have certain aroma characteristics, or represent a certain type of aroma. Fragrance bases are generally not used directly in flavored products, but are used as a raw material in flavors.

04 Common Terms in Fragrance Blending

The 4 main components of flavor (main fragrance, blending agent, adjusting agent, fixative)

①Main fragrance: the raw material that gives the basic fragrance characteristics of the essence, and represents the main body of the fragrance of the whole essence;

②Conditioning agent: It often has a similar rhythm to the main fragrance, which is used to blend various components of the main fragrance to make the fragrance harmonious;

③ Modifier: It is generally composed of spices with different rhythms from the main fragrance, which is used to modify the main aroma and change the aroma components of the flavor style, so that the overall aroma is richer, multi-toned, and individuality is highlighted;

④Fixing agent: It is composed of spices with long-lasting aroma and low volatility, so that the aroma of the essence volatilizes evenly and the fragrance lasts for a long time.

Usually, the preparation of a certain fragrance requires the above-mentioned 4 components to be combined in a suitable ratio, so that various fragrances can promote strengths and avoid weaknesses, achieve harmony and balance of aromas, and emit pleasant aromas from beginning to end.