Essence for food should be added during the addition process (hair side, gumming, meat making) of edible areca nut: generally speaking, essence for food is mostly used in weak acid to neutral media, while areca nut is acidic, and meat and water become strong alkaline. Therefore, essence for food is under acidic conditions during hair making and gumming, and under strong alkaline conditions during meat making.
Qingguo areca is the mainstream product in the market at present, and the following essence are often used in its adding process according to taste requirements: cinnamon oil, peppermint oil, sesame oil, osmanthus, cream, coffee, Lei Zi, lemon, etc. The spices that make up these essence include: alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, organic acids, heterocyclic compounds, lattice compounds and their derivatives. For example, camphor intoxication, menthol intoxication, acetaldehyde isobutyraldehyde, decanal, citral, benzaldehyde, cinnamaldehyde, butanedione, 3-octone, menthone, acetic acid, butyric acid, phenylacetic acid, cinnamic acid, acetic acid menthol, butylhydroxyphenol, 2.3.5-co methylpyruvate, 2-ethylpyruvate, limonene, etc.
The change of essence of Areca catechu is mainly caused by the interaction between essence components or between essence components and water, acid, alkali, etc. in the environment. For example, the aldehydes (acetaldehyde octanal, decanal, benzaldehyde, citral) in Leizi essence and lemon essence, under dilute conditions, the condensation of two molecules of aldehydes produces three transonic aldehydes.
The product 3-butyraldehyde is not included in the list of permitted uses, and its physiological effects are still unknown. Once the other 3 butyraldehyde is heated, it is easy to remove a molecule of water and form. 13 - Unsaturated aldehyde (crotonaldehyde). Crotonaldehyde has a spicy, rustic aroma, which is on the allowed list. It is safe to eat, but the aroma is not good.
During the use of areca essence, due to the acidic and strong alkaline environment, not only the aroma changes, but also some compounds with unknown physiological effects may be produced. Therefore, a series of measures should be taken to minimize the occurrence of such reactions. For example, in the formula design of essence, some flavor raw materials that are unstable under alkaline conditions and prone to reaction are designed to be used for flavoring areca nuts in the process of hair making and sizing.
Some aroma materials that are unstable and prone to reactions under hostile conditions are designed for flavoring meat and water during the side meat process. For some aroma materials that are unstable under acidic and alkaline conditions (such as citral), microencapsulation can also be used to protect them.
The wall of microencapsulated essence, such as modified starch and resin glue, can effectively prevent the interaction between the molecules of flavor raw materials and the interaction between the molecules of flavor raw materials and the medium, thus maintaining the stability of essence and aroma, and preventing the production of compounds with unknown physiological effects.
