To a sensory scientist, the term “flavor” refers to the combination of taste, aroma, mouthfeel and texture. To a formulator, a flavor is a commercial ingredient that is a blend of volatile chemicals responsible for imparting the aroma of a product – orange, chocolate, mint. In addition to aroma chemicals flavors contain bulking agents (carriers) and other functional ingredients such as preservatives, suspending agents and emulsifiers.

 

Flavor Categories

By regulation, flavors are categorized by the Code of Federal Regulations (21CFR101.22) into four types depending on their composition:

 

• Natural Flavors

• Natural With Other Natural Flavors (WONF)

• Artificial Flavors

• Natural and Artificial (N&A) Flavors

 

As a formulator, you need to consider the utility and different performance characteristics of each flavor type. We’ll break them down here.

 

Continue reading here this first “Excipient Basics” Article written by experts from Senopsys for pharma excipents.