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Ever wondered why olive oil can smell like a green banana, wine can have hints of herbs or biscuits, and coffee can leave a fruity and spicy aftertaste?
Taste experiences are often filled with surprises. One of the most fascinating aspects is discovering unexpected flavors in pure, unadulterated products.
For instance, how can olive oil possibly smell like a tomato or a green banana? Could the tomatoes grown in the same field have influenced the oil’s flavor profile?
Another common question I get during olive oil tastings is, “How is it possible that some olive oils have flavors of almond and walnut? Is there actually a walnut inside the olive oil?”
So now, how come these flavors develop in foods?
To better understand the flavors we encounter in olive oil and wine tastings, let's first look at how flavors develop in foods in general.
Let’s start with the basics!
The flavor of food comes from the interaction of compounds responsible for taste and those responsible for smell, known as aromatic compounds.
Compounds responsible for taste are primarily non-volatile (meaning they don’t evaporate), while compounds responsible for smell, or aromatic compounds, are volatile (meaning they can evaporate) and can therefore be perceived through the olfactory receptors in our nose.
Now, in foods, while the quantity of volatile compounds may be quite small, ranging from 10-15 mg/kg, there is a wide variety of these compounds. For example, in a food, especially a fermented product, up to 800 different volatile compounds can be found, even if they are present in small amounts.
The answer, of course, is NO! Not all volatile compounds are necessarily aromatic, meaning they don’t all contribute to the final aroma of the food.
Specifically, aromatic compounds are volatile substances with a specific chemical structure that are present in foods at concentrations above the odor recognition threshold.
The recognition threshold is the lowest concentration of a compound that is sufficient for the recognition of its odor.
Therefore, the recognition threshold determines whether a substance is classified as aromatic, and based on this threshold, the aromatic value of that compound within the food is calculated.
When the aromatic value of a compound is at a high rate, the aroma of that specific compound is one of the dominant aromas of the food, and in this way, it can be identified in taste tests. The dominant aromatic compounds are those that collectively provide the characteristic flavor of each food.
.For example, in olive oil, dominant aromas that we can identify are freshly cut grass, tomato, and unripe banana, but due to the aromatic compounds and not due to any additives!
This is a completely logical thought when you consider that most essential oils and the colognes we wear are chemical aromatic compounds synthesized in a laboratory, and have absolutely no contact with flowers, no matter how intense their floral scent may be.
