Juicing Up Functional Foods, Beverages

Most government health documents recommend Americans increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables. In addition to offering fiber, antioxidants and other beneficial compounds, they have rounded taste profiles, affecting the nose and the mouth. In fact, while the tongue can only register basic tastes, the human nose can distinguish an amazing number of odors.

The essences and aromas of plants are due to their volatile or essential oils. These volatile substances are both water- and fat-soluble, permitting them to penetrate the moist mucus and lipid covering of nerve cells. Natural flavors such as strawberry may contain more than 100 volatile components, while a banana contains only a handful.

Whatever the number of components, the scent of fresh fruits is almost universally appealing. It is this wide appeal that has made fruit flavors such a draw in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and functional food/beverage applications. Because there are so many different odors and tastes, chemists can blend flavor compounds to minimize harsh tones in a nutraceutical base or mask alkaloids in a pharmaceutical.

Flavoring is as much an art as a science. When a product is unbalanced in any of the taste attributes--too bitter or acidic--adding ingredients with other attributes can return it to equilibrium. For example, a bitter herbal extract could be balanced with the addition of sugar. However, that might not meet the manufacturer requirements for a healthy product; instead, the manufacturer could use a flavoring agent.

"Sweet fruity flavors, such as low acid fruit like banana or guava, can greatly complement overly acidic and bitter applications," said John Boddington, Ph.D., manager of natural products for Lakeland, Fla.-based Treatt USA. "We have seen these particular flavors successfully used to mask the acidic and bitter components in probiotic products, for example. In contrast, it is less tempting to flavor these products with an essence from an overtly acidic or bitter fruit such as lemon or grapefruit."

There are specific labeling requirements for flavors, which are found in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulations, specifically 21CFR101.22. Natural flavor comes from the named food itself, such as "strawberry flavor." It refers to the "essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis" with the flavoring constituents from a natural product, with the primary function of flavoring. An artificial flavor is labeled as "artificial [food] flavor" and refers to flavoring not from natural sources.

Because many types of natural flavors can become quite expensive (such as the delicately flavored direct concentrate of strawberry), an increasingly popular "natural" labeling claim is W.O.N.F. "With Other Natural Flavors" refers to a product made using a natural flavor that is accentuated with complementary flavors. For example, strawberry bits in a nutritional bar could be dehydrated apple pieces, flavored with some natural strawberry flavor and other natural components that would round out the floral or fruit notes a consumer expects from "strawberry."

"There is a place for both natural and artificial fruit flavorings in the food and drink industry," Boddington said. "Natural flavors are very important when a manufacturer is looking to develop 'clean label' products and complement the health-promoting message of nutraceuticals."

Mark Brudnak, Ph.D., vice president of technology with Grafton, Wis.-based MAK Wood, agreed that natural flavors have a particular appeal in the health food market. "Manufacturers believe that consumers perceive the 'naturally' flavored products to be 'better' than 'artificially' flavored counterparts," he said. "However, you can juggle the chemical balance of a flavor to work better with a nutraceutical base, selecting a fruit flavor where one ingredient is so predominant that boosting its level would improve, enhance or mask unwanted flavors."

Flavor masking is important in the nutraceutical industry. (For more on masking agents and flavor modifiers, visit the INSIDER's archives at www.naturalproductsinsider.com.) In particular, the alkaloid compounds in many botanical ingredients make products very bitter. "A bitter nutraceutical could be paired with a grapefruit flavor in a complementary fashion," said Chris McIntyre, a spokesman for Erlanger, Ky.-based Wild Flavors.

However, not all citrus flavors have a bitter taste. Use of essential oils is important to deliver the backbone taste of citrus flavor. "Citrus flavors can be formulated to avoid bitterness," McIntyre said. "The bitter-peely bite can be reduced by using concentrated citrus oils instead of expressed oils."

Flavors vs. Solids

Flavors deliver the volatile, essential taste and aroma component of a fruit. However, in many nutraceutical and functional food applications, manufacturers are looking for more than just a flavor--they're hoping to add nutritional benefits as well. This is where fruit solids can prove beneficial.

"Fruit juice solids give the benefit of natural taste and a nutritional component," said Jennifer Closshey, president of Plant City, Fla.-based Crystals International. "The products are nutrient dense, so in a small size, manufacturers can pack a powerful punch and deliver the nutrients they're looking for."

Crystals International provides a line of continuous-vacuum, freeze-dried fruit and vegetable powders and flavors. The fruit juice solids provide flavor and nutrition in a concentrated form; for example, one pound of orange freeze-dried fruit powder is the juice equivalent of 44.95 oranges. In addition, the fruit juice solids permit manufacturers to make a "juice" claim on the label, rather than just a "flavor" claim.

Closshey noted that drying retains nutritional compounds such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, minerals, trace elements, vitamins and amino acids. "Our orange freeze-dried fruit powder retains much of the vitamin C and limonoids that are thought to fight against infection and cancer," she said. It also retains the color components, which are indicators of carotenoid content.

The anthocyanins, polyphenols and other antioxidants in many fruits are delivered in a concentrated source in fruit powders. According to FutureCeuticals, a supplier of fruit powders, its products provide ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) levels as high as 4,000 units/g. "Our fruit powders are rarely used just as flavor," said Hartley Pond, marketing manager with Momence, Ill.-based FutureCeuticals. "Adding a powder to a base with other flavors can round out the flavor profile, completing the notes a consumer expects from a particular fruit."

Whether a manufacturer uses fruit flavors or solids to develop a nutraceutical or functional food product, the benefits come through in the taste. "Flavors improve the palatability of nutraceutical products so that larger sales volumes result," McIntyre said. "This allows nutraceuticals to be mainstreamed into common products with the ability to tout the benefits or at least declare the 'flavor' ingredient, allowing the consumer to opt for the perceived benefits in the purchase."