What does Schrödinger's cherry blossom flavor taste like?

Science Times reporter epic

Recently, many supermarkets have put all kinds of cherry blossom flavored foods on the shelves, such as soda, potato chips, cakes, candies, etc., all of which are delicate and tender, as if spring has been placed on the shelves. However, after tasting these foods, many consumers find that the taste is a bit strange, and even launched a hot search topic "Never buy cherry blossom flavored foods". Some people also say that cherry blossoms themselves have no taste, and these foods rely on edible flavors. What exactly does cherry blossom flavor taste like?

"Cherry blossoms have no fragrance or taste. The cherry blossom flavor we taste is an 'artificial flavor' designed by imagination," said Yun Wuxin, a popular science writer on food health. The traditional cherry blossom flavor is actually a component called "coumarin" produced when cherry blossom leaves are crushed and pickled with salt. Today's cherry blossom flavor is generally formed by mixing esters such as ethyl butyrate, and aldehyde compounds such as benzaldehyde and anisaldehyde. Its creation is entirely the result of the "brain-opening" of food R&D personnel, who imagine the flavor they expect to taste when they see cherry blossoms, and then present it with the corresponding flavors.

As a result, it is normal that the tastes of different sakura-flavored foods vary greatly and may not match the taste that consumers expect, because there is no correct answer to the question "what does sakura flavor taste like".

This makes people curious. Modern food has a variety of flavors. In addition to cherry blossom flavor, are there other artificial flavors? Yun Wuxin explained: "Flavors like cherry blossom flavor that are completely created by imagination are relatively rare. Other 'artificially synthesized flavors' are usually simulated with unrelated ingredients or spices for a specific flavor." He gave an example, saying that the fish flavor in traditional cooking, such as Sichuan cuisine, is made with pickled red peppers, onions, ginger, garlic and other ingredients, without any fish at all.

In the modern food industry, researchers can analyze and find out the main components of a flavor, and then use the corresponding substances to simulate it. For example, the milky flavor of popcorn comes from artificially synthesized diacetyl, which can produce a rich flavor without butter. The familiar vanilla flavor originally came from vanilla extract, but this extract is too expensive, making it difficult for businesses to control costs. Later, scientists discovered that the vanilla flavor mainly comes from an ingredient called vanillin, which can be used to highly simulate the vanilla flavor, thus making cheap vanillin.

Some netizens are worried that in our daily lives, we unknowingly consume a lot of food prepared with artificial flavors. Will this affect our health over time? Yun Wuxin said that according to my country's national standards, there are more than 1,800 flavors and spices approved for use, and the use of flavors is self-limiting. If you use too much, the taste will be bad, so consumers don't have to worry too much about manufacturers using too much.