Getting away from the fruit flavors for a moment …
Mhing, should the flavoring in question completely NOT emulate or suggest anything in nature? Do you disqualify saccharine and asparatame because they’re meant to emulate sugar?
How about Olestra (suggesting fat)? Monosodium glutamate (suggesting … meatiness?)?
Ah! I should have previewed!
The -O-R’ group should be attached to the C, not the R. Since the board strips out preceeding spaces, lets try it this way:
R
|
C=O
|
O-R’
WOW - I never dreamed I would get 20 some responses to this question. This is great ! In response to “KidCharlemagne” both really - more of # 2 “Flavors that aren’t made with extracts, esters, or any other close derivatives of naturally occurring substances”
I guess the real answer to this question is, why would we want to make a flavor that no one has heard of and does not resemble any thing that we know as “tasty”. If we were able to make up a flavor itmay not market very well!
Mangetout is on the same line as our staffroom disscussion when he says “Perhaps you have the basis of a marketable idea there; develop a blend of synthetic aromas that is pleasant, but not inspired by or in imitation of anything natural and market it as 'the gum that tastes like nothing on Earth”
Thanks for the input - keep em coming!
“bordelond” is correct the flavoring in question should NOT emulate or suggest anything in nature.
Yes saccharine and asparatame emulate sugar, sugar is natural - does not count.
How about Olestra (suggesting fat) - never heard of this one (pardon my ignorance) but looks like you are on the right track - fat is natural Monosodium glutamate - meat - natural.
Now were on track - great attempts though - these did not get mentioned in our discussions 
Then I would say that by your criteria, no, there are no man-made palatable flavors suggesting nothing humans would normally find and eat in nature.
I will posit this, though – saccharine is really just a sweet substance, not a spinoff of sugar. As far as it emulates sugar, it emulates it poorly. It really has a taste of it’s own, IMHO. Saccharine is probably the substance that most closely matches your OP.
I agree with you 100%
But it is fun trying to think of some - and getting other people’s ideas on it !
I was thinking towards sacharine/artificial sweetners. They are called sweetners, as is sugar, but don’t often hear them being “tastes like sugar”.
I had a can of some “pure protein shake” not long ago-it used some sort of synthetic flavoring in it instead of sugars. I can’t think of what the flavor was called, though.
This page lists something called ‘masking flavour’, which is entirely artificial, it doesn’t say what it tastes like, but I suppose it would be automatically disqualified if it did.
Just how strict are you going to be here mhing? - if somebody tastes the entirely novel flavour that I design and exclaims that it tastes sort of grapey, have I failed? (even if grapes never crossed my mind when I made it)
The only thing I can think of that fits most of these definitions would be MSG which has it’s very own taste category, umame. I mean if something get’s a new taste category it’s gotta be unique.
how about watermelon flavored stuff, like Italian ices? They don’t really taste like watermelon. Also, grape was mentioned. Everything that’s artificially grape flavored tastes abot the same, but tastes nothing like grapes,
Menthol?
Menthol occurs naturally in mint (Mentha Spp)
The artificial grape flavour does taste like grapes (well, like some grapes) - the first time I tasted Welch’s purple grape juice, I thought it contained artificial flavouring, but it doesn’t; it just tasted incredibly ‘grapey’, like artificial grape flavour does.
(I should get a case of it sent to me now for advertising it like that)
The character impact compound for grape is methyl anthranilate the chemical is available from both natrual and artificial sources. Same stuff just different source.
Interesting thing about this compound is that it is also used to keep birds off your lawn.
big Doh! for that link…not sure how i did that…but here is the correct one for the grape chemical.
Even going to preview this time to make sure :smack:
Do names of flavors which have nothing to do with the ingredients count? That would allow things like a lot of drink flavors–Grasshoppers, for example. They don’t actually use or taste like grasshoppers (I hope…).
wintergreen?
Oil of wintergreen is a natural substance, found in the evergreen shrub Gaulthera Procumbens.
Great work folks … keep it up.
Mangeout - If you can do it - and it tastes good - YOU WIN!!
I was reading a tasting on a single malt scotch - it described it as muscular!!
Oh never mind muscles are natural … what do they taste like … steak?
Couldn’t resist jumping into the discussion.
Given the close connection between taste and our olfactory sense, why are there not synthetic flavors (not based on any naturally occuring flavour) that are appealing to us in the same way that the smells of gasoline, certain distillates, new car interiors, etc. are?
Perhaps there are untasted synthetic compounds waiting to be devoured?
“Say, chuck, what flavour is that ice cream? Looks really good.”
“Well, Lou, this is copier-toner ripple, and indeed it is.”