Freezing fruit flavour technology targets confectioners
benefit confectioners looking to demand for natural ingredients.
Quest says that the technology will benefit manufacturers looking for realistic tropical fruit flavours.
The confectionery sector is slowly turning onto natural flavours as consumers begin to look closer at ingredients.
Natural ingredients have a particularly good image with health-conscious consumers, and confectionery products that utilise natural colours and flavours - as well as high fruit content - will be in a better position to satisfy consumer desire for more healthy treats.
Collectively known as Tropicsense, the new Quest range includes well-known fruits such as banana, pineapple and mango as well as more unusual and exotic flavours, such as bacuri, feijoa, pitahaya and cactus fruit.
"Consumers are looking for new taste sensations that satisfy their curiosity," said Esther van Ommeren, senior flavourist at Quest.
"They also expect sophisticated flavour varieties of the known brands and are willing to pay a premium for these."
Quest has attempted to tap this demand through the utilisation of its Freezeframe Biocaptive technology. The company says that this technology is best suited to fruits and spices.
By using liquid nitrogen to freeze the fruit and by excluding oxygen, enzymatic degradation is prevented.
The method boosts the flavour by capturing only the most authentic top notes, which recreate that first bite freshness of juicy fruits. Furthermore, analytical research has allowed Quest to identify new molecules that are key to freshness in fruit flavours.
Finally, bio precursor technology has enabled the firm to develop the ripe character components that consumers experience in tropical fruit.
"With this knowledge, we can replicate the freshness, vibrancy and authenticity of the real fruit, with the subtle nuances that make up the entire eating experience," said van Ommeren.
"So for example, passion fruit is quite complex: the juicy, edible pulp inside is rich, tart and fragrant with an aromatic, sharp-sweet taste. Or take pink guava, which is sweet, floral and musky and highly aromatic with a heady perfume."
This complexity in flavours, said van Ommeren, creates a `layering effect. Quest has attempted to capture this effect in order to recreate a more complex, real and sophisticated true-to-fruit experience.
The full list of flavours included in the confectionery and dairy range is: bacuri, pineapple, pink guava, green guava, pomegranate, mango, lychee, feijoa, passion fruit, maracuja, papaya, cactus fruit, pitahaya, sour sop, tamarind and banana.
Quest is one of the worlds leading creative flavours and fragrances companies and is part of the ICI group. It operates in over 30 countries and employs 3,400 people.
