The main taste is caused by aroma content, coupled with salty, sweet, bitter, spicy...
I think the essential oils are the lower molecular weight volatile components and will mainly be perceived by the olfactory bulbs. The volatiles can reach the bulbs in the form of vapor and can easily be perceived. The taste on the other hand is perceived by the different taste buds mainly on the tongue and this is a stimulus caused by the heavy molecular weigh components called oleoresins. These components should come in contact with the taste buds and are not volatiles. Sometimes aromatic foods may not have any taste; or sometimes foods with appealing aroma may not have appealing taste. A very good example is roasted fenugreek seed, which has a very salivating nice aroma, but very bitter when tasted. Other times foods have combination of the oleoresins (taste components) and the essential oils (aroma components) and both can be perceived simultaneously and the stimulus is called Flavor (combination of taste and flavor).
With this general information, I think the orange peels have both aromatic and taste components. The taste components are perceived only when it gets in contact with our tongue. It has some sour (back sides of tongue), bitter (rare tongue) and the aroma is perceived by the olfactory buds (nasal cavity). I hope this helps you understand the thing. If your interest is only in the aroma components you can separate them by distillation fractionation at lower simmering temperatures and see that. You probably get some tasteless or less bitter/sour components. Good luck!
Essential oil are the carriers of aromatic, pigmented and volatile compounds in many plant materials. In addition, oils have been reported by many researchers to improve the mouthfeel/ texture of many foods.
thank you every body for your very useful comments.
thx Stephen! thx Elvis! Great!
Hi Elyas,
We worked with oreganum and thyme essential oils in pre-cooked products, exploring their antioxidant activity. Before setting the concentrations it is always very convenient to perform a preliminary assay with a view to evaluate which concentration range does not affect the sensory profile of the product.
Best regards
Jorge
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