Why Doesn't Artificial Banana Flavor Taste Like Bananas? (2024)
Banana Runts are the best Runts. Don't deny it. There's a reason they sell them on their own in five pound bags, and why any bowl of Runts will quickly be devoid of yellow within minutes of its presentation. Okay, maybe we don't offer up a lot of bowls of Runts to houseguests, but the point is that whether it's fruit-shaped hard candy, Laffy Taffy or Jell-O Pudding, banana flavor is distinctly identifiable and enjoyable and…well, it tastes nothing like bananas.
That may be because the bananas you eat today are not your great-granny's bananas. (Say that six times fast.) If you bought bananas in the first half of the 20th Century, it's highly likely you were buying the fatter, more flavorful cousin of our modern banana, the Gros Michel—a cultivar that was top banana in its day and comprised the vast majority of banana exports.
Then along came Panama disease, a fungus that has been the bane of banana growers since the 1800s. It all but wiped the Gros Michel off the planet by the 1960s. As the fungus decimated crops, a less-popular, less-flavorful variety—the Cavendish—was discovered to be resistant to the pathogen. Crops were quickly replaced with this new fruit and we're still eating it today. Whew. Problem solved, right? Well, not so fast. But first, back to the candy.
When you break down the artificial banana flavor, it comes down to one compound: isoamyl acetate. According to a BBC story on this topic, if you were to sniff isoamyl acetate (like the cool kids did behind the bleachers) you would say "that's bananas!" But, you know, in the literal sense. Cavendish bananas have a more subtle and complex flavor than Gros Michels, so this one-shot flavoring can't really cover the nuances of the banana we all know. However, studies of the flavor compounds in Gros Michel bananas (which are still grown by banana-philes) show that the old-school bananas packed in much more of that isoamyl acetate flavor than their present-day counterparts. So it's not that the fake banana flavor doesn't taste like bananas, it's that bananas don't taste as flavorful as they used to.
If you're lamenting the loss of robust banana flavors in our fruit salads, you may have a more pressing issue on your hands. Cavendishes could soon be on their way out as well. In replacing the Gros Michel with the Cavendish those (perhaps a bit overzealous) agricultural wizards ended up cultivating a sterile crop that reproduces through transplants, not seeds. Hence bananas, a fruit, don't have any seeds like a good fruit should. It's okay, they're still yummy.
A new strain of Panama disease has sprung up in the past decade or so and is already affecting Cavendish crops in Asia, Africa and Australia. Because they don't grow from seeds, all bananas are essentially clones. That means there isn't any genetic diversity that could produce resistant crops. So if the fungus can kill off one Cavendish plant, it can kill all of them. Hopefully through engineering, cultivation and research Cavendish bananas can be saved, because they're not only an $11 billion global industry, they're also our planet's favorite fruit.
The main reason is that bananas have many more smelly compounds than just isoamyl acetate, but there is one banana variety called the Gros Michel that some people seem to think tastes and smells a lot like a banana Laffy Taffy
Taffy
Taffy is a type of candy invented in the United States, made by stretching and/or pulling a sticky mass of a soft candy base, made of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, and colorings, until it becomes aerated (tiny air bubbles produced), resulting in a light, fluffy and chewy candy.
The reason why banana flavouring doesn't have the same taste as real bananas is because real bananas have a variety of compounds, while banana flavouring has a more limited set of compounds.
Isoamyl acetate is used to confer banana or pear flavor in foods such as circus peanuts, Juicy Fruit and pear drops. Banana oil and pear oil commonly refer to a solution of isoamyl acetate in ethanol that is used as an artificial flavor.
The modern era of flavouring was to pay attention to the most volatile chemicals. A very small concentration of certain molecules that might not be related to the original fruit flavour ends up influencing our perception of the taste.
Most of bananas “banana” flavour can be contributed to the organic ester compound isoamyl acetate. Isoamyl acetate has a strong odour described as being both banana and pear like.
Although both of these foods have a sweet taste and a cooling energy, their post digestive effect is very different. Bananas are sour while milk is sweet. This further causes confusion to our digestive system and may result in toxins, allergies and other imbalances.
The banana-flavored milk was first exported to the U.S. and is sold over in countries including mainland China (+Hong Kong), Taiwan, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
It turns out a single molecule is responsible for that artificial banana flavor, isoamyl acetate. And yeah, there is isoamyl acetate in actual bananas.
Banana flavoring comes from isoamyl acetate, a chemical found in all bananas. It's that same strong flavor you'd get whether you're crunching on a handful of Banana Runts or a spoonful of mashed overripe bananas about to become bread.
* Breathing Isoamyl Acetate can irritate the nose, throat and lungs. * Exposure to high concentrations of Isoamyl Acetate can cause headache, drowsiness, dizziness, lightheadedness, fatigue, and may cause you to pass out. * Prolonged or repeated contact can cause drying and cracking of the skin.
In some cases, adulteration of food and additives causes potential health risks, such as learning disabilities, hyperkinesis, kidney damage, tumors, skin rashes, migraine, asthma, sleep disturbance, and gastric upset.
There's no evidence that the artificial flavoring itself is harmful to your health, but the food that it is included in may not be healthful. Rather than focusing on avoiding artificial flavors, I'd recommend focusing on including healthful, whole foods.
The difference between artificial flavors and natural flavors comes down to where the flavor chemicals come from. As previously said, natural flavor chemicals come from plant or animal material while artificial flavors come from laboratories.
A ripe banana can be a thing of beauty. Sweet on the inside, a ripe banana can be enjoyed as a healthy snack or transformed into a tasty baked good. On the flip side, an unripe banana can taste bland, and it's not ideal if you're looking to make banana muffins or banana bread.
While banana and milk can be consumed separately as they are packed with nutrition, having them together can lead to several health problems in the longer run.” Banana milkshake is a wrong food combination as “you are mixing two heavy food items together. This can dampen and weaken your digestive fire.”
Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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