Natural flavours just hit differently than their artificial counterparts. It all comes back to the intricate chemistry of nature and how our brains are specifically designed to recognise this real taste experience!
Chemical Complexity
A natural flavour potentially has hundreds of volatile compounds and all are working together to impart something unique. Chemically, artificial strawberries use one major chemical whereas a single strawberry possesses over 350 different flavour compounds. This complexity is why our buds detect realness – it’s got depth and nuance to the taste. For Natural Flavourings, visit //foodieflavours.com/collections/natural-flavourings
Synergy is used to describe a situation where two compounds combine their effects, and the whole becomes greater than its individual parts. Real vanilla is loaded with dozens of co-factors and enhancers for vanillin that give it undertones and complexity no single-molecule artificial version can duplicate.
Evolutionary Programming
The human body has evolved over the millennia to eat natural foods so it has a very good system for recognising healthy and nutritious ones. Natural flavours are engraved into our brain as appealing because historically they have meant valuable nutrients and energy.
Thus, the evolutionary connection is why natural flavours are so often associated with positive feelings and memories that can evoke nostalgia through something we call “flavour-emotion coupling.”
Sensory Integration
Natural flavours will ignite multiple senses in conjunction. That said, they do more than just taste (or even provide aroma) – they are molecules of flavour compounds that stimulate our sense of smell through an olfactory system responsible for 80% or so of what we call taste. These botanicals are generally packed with supporting aromatic compounds that will enrich the overall sensory experience.
The Authenticity Factor
And in fact, research demonstrates that consumers have a “natural preference bias” – they like food better when the ingredient sounds all natural. Natural equals safe, good (healthy), and desired by our brains.