KANSAS CITY — Many consumers are seeking more protein and less sugar in their foods while still demanding the same taste. To create such products, formulators may turn to flavor modifiers, be they flavor maskers intended to eliminate off-notes in plant-based proteins or flavor enhancers to keep a sweet taste in reduced sugar beverages.

The International Food Information Council’s 2024 Food and Health Survey found over 70% of respondents said they were trying to consume protein, but the plant-based protein category has stalled in recent years, due in part to taste issues.

“Plant-based proteins like pea, fava bean, rice and hemp are great for nutrition, but they can bring some tricky flavors to the table,” said Philip Caputo, marketing and consumer insights manager for Virginia Dare, Carteret, NJ. “Pea protein tends to have an earthy or grassy taste, while fava bean protein can add bitter notes to the flavor. Rice protein is mild but sometimes leaves a chalky texture and a hint of bitterness.”

Formulators should choose ingredients that effectively neutralize specific off-notes, he added.

“For earthy or grassy undertones, a blend of rich, savory notes might be used to create depth and smooth out the profile,” Caputo said. “With bitterness, ingredients that add sweetness or acidity can help round out the flavor depending on the formulation. The key lies in understanding the unique interactions between the base ingredients and the masking agents. This is what allows you to craft a solution that elevates the final product while seamlessly masking any unwanted notes.”

Yeast extracts and kokumi compounds may mitigate off-flavors like grassy, astringent or bitter, said Sarah Corwin, PhD, senior principal scientist for ingredient innovation at Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc., Itasca, Ill.

“Yeast extracts are incredibly useful in flavor enhancement and help product developers deliver both umami and kokumi sensations in final products,” she said. “Yeast extracts are especially effective at bringing out the savory notes of applications like cheese or meat-based sauces, dips, pastas and snacks. They can also bring out less pronounced savory and umami flavors in meat-free, plant-based products, helping to round out and improve the overall taste experience.”

Sensient Flavors & Extracts, Hoffman Estates, Ill., offers a portfolio of flavor enhancers under its TrueBoost product umbrella, including Sweetness, Sensasalt, Mouthfeel and Amplify, said Meg Jurcan, innovation scientist and project manager for Sensient Flavors & Extracts.

“Our newest piece of the TrueBoost portfolio is often an underrated tool, in my opinion,” she said. “Amplify can be used as a catch-all flavor enhancer that just lifts up all those positive notes and characteristics and gives food that extra boost to put it over the top.”

Sensient also has a masking technology called Smoothenol.

“Our line of maskers works well across every application,” Jurcan said. “A very simplified explanation is that they work to block your taste receptors from receiving molecules with negative flavor characteristics. So, Smoothenol blocks the bad signals and lets the positive taste characteristics still come through. It does not dull the flavors across the board. In fact, by using a masker to clean up those negative characteristics in the base, it often allows the positive notes to shine through more effectively.”

Symrise, Holzminden, Germany, has ProtiScan, an analytical tool for product development in alternative protein applications that allows Symrise to improve taste in foods and beverages better and faster, according to the company. Linking sensory and analytical data builds predictive models, allowing for higher selectivity and efficiency.

Symrise uses data ranging from raw materials over intermediates to final applications generated through the help of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). Hundreds of different plant protein sources and products already analyzed are linked with sensory data and performance studies on masking systems. The analytical capabilities are extended by a second system combining the power of a classic gas chromatograph, IMS and an olfactory detector.

The system allows higher data resolution and linkage to sensory impressions, according to Symrise.

Adios, aftertaste

The IFIC 2024 Food & Health Survey showed 76% of respondents said they were trying to limit or avoid sugars, which was up from 72% in the 2023 survey. Aftertaste is a potential issue when sugar is reduced, especially in beverages.

“In beverages, consumers have somewhat adapted to the negative attributes of artificial sweeteners, but the use of stevia and monk fruit is relatively new to the market,” said Melanie Croce, principal designer for IFF, New York. “In general, the off-notes and lingering aftertaste are more obvious in beverages due to the matrix being less complex. There are also a number of yogurt products on the market that are sweetened with stevia and monk fruit. In these applications, the off-notes can also intensify the astringency and lingering sourness of the yogurt itself.”

Flavor maskers may be used to eliminate the off-flavor or lingering aftertaste, but off-notes may be perceived differently depending on the application and the blending system used, she said.

“But the solutions can go beyond just using maskers,” Croce said. “Our sweet modulation technologies also play an important role in flavor formulation because the main goal is to deliver a balanced sweetness perception that can drive consumer acceptance.

“IFF has a wide range of masking compounds that can mitigate the bitterness astringency and lingering sweetness of high-intensity sweeteners. These are then used in conjunction with other ingredients that may target the volatile defects of high-intensity sweeteners, such as licorice, dried fruit or metallic finish.”

Caputo of Virginia Dare said protein powders and ready-to-drink beverages often experience off-flavors and lingering aftertastes due to formulation and processing. He added that noticeable aftertastes may affect high-caffeine energy drinks or functional beverages with high doses of active ingredients.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for every plant protein or artificial sweetener on the market,” Caputo said. “Flavor maskers are often custom developed to curb or neutralize specific off-notes in various formulations. For the best results, formulators should seek out experienced flavor scientists that can offer a bespoke approach.”

High-intensity sweeteners such as stevia, monk fruit, sucralose and acesulfame potassium tend to have a strong, intensely sweet flavor that dissipates fast, and they sometimes come with a bitter note, Sensient’s Jurcan said.

“Smoothenol works well to mitigate those spikes and dips,” she said. “It also rounds out the mouthfeel to provide a more typical experience.”

A combination approach

Cargill, Minneapolis, has combined a sweetener and a flavor in one ingredient.

“On the flavor modification front, EverSweet + ClearFlo results in a more sugar-like experience, especially at higher concentrations, with a sweetness profile that is even closer to sucrose,” said Smaro Kokkinidou, PhD, principal food scientist for Cargill. “At the same time, it helps manage off-flavors from other ingredients used in formulation, including earthy and beany notes from plant-based proteins, bitterness from caffeine or vitamins, or metallic tastes from potassium chloride or other minerals.

“In addition, it enhances characterizing flavor profiles, including light, fruity notes and rich ‘chocolatey’ tones.”

The sweetener system also impacts mouthfeel perceptions, including in no-sugar-added formulations.

“For example, when used in a non-fat yogurt, we’ve witnessed noticeable improvements in mouthfeel, resulting in an indulgent, creamy product that’s a far cry from most non-fat options on the market today,” Kokkinidou said.

Jurcan summed up the complexity of flavor modifiers in general.

“Flavor enhancers and maskers are an important part of the product development toolbox that can produce incredibly impactful results,” she said. “Masking, in particular, is a very complex problem to solve. What works in one application will not always work in another, so talking to your flavor partner can generate ideas and help you solve lingering issues.”