Food flavor: nature of essential oils

While the average dosage of fragrances in the final product can be very high, flavors in food products are used in very low dosages, well below 1%. The high consumption of essential oils by this sector results from the large volume of sales of flavored foods.

Essential oils are volatile, generally aroma-contributing liquids produced by plant. The term essential oil derived from ‘essence’ as it carries the distinctive scent or essence of the plant material. The most common physical process used for removal of essential oils is team or water distillation.

Because they are volatile, they are also called volatile oils. Specific essential oils are named after the plant from which they are extracted for example, ginger oil, nutmeg oil, and orange oil.

Essential oils are odorous components of plants and plant materials that are characteristics odors of the materials from which they are extracted. Essential oils and natural extracts represent complex aroma mixtures containing hundreds of chemical constituents.

Fruit extracts have been used as flavorings but these are relatively weak when compared to essential oils and oleoresins. Food flavor:
Nature of essential oils