
2-Phenyl 2-butenal (FEMA #3224, CAS #4411-89-6) has a very attractive cocoa aroma, softer than 5-methyl 2-phenyl 2-hexenal, perhaps less distinctive but definitely less strident. This note is paired with an equally soft and pleasant tinge of honey. These two notes obviously work well together in brown flavors. Their combination also add interest, at modest levels, in quite a smorgasbord of other flavors.
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2-Phenyl 2-butenal (FEMA #3224, CAS #4411-89-6) has a very attractive cocoa aroma, softer than 5-methyl 2-phenyl 2-hexenal, perhaps less distinctive but definitely less strident. This note is paired with an equally soft and pleasant tinge of honey. These two notes obviously work well together in brown flavors. Their combination also add interest, at modest levels, in quite a smorgasbord of other flavors.
Note that the dose rates given throughout this article are the levels suggested for use in flavors intended to be dosed at 0.05% in ready-to-drink beverages or in a simple bouillon.
Brown Flavors
Caramel: 2-Phenyl 2-butenal is the perfect ingredient for caramel flavors. Levels of addition vary, but 300 ppm is typical.
Chocolate and Cocoa: Three hundred ppm is a great level of addition for 2-phenyl 2-butenal in cocoa flavors, adding an attractive subtlety to 5-methyl 2-phenyl 2-hexenal. Lower levels have a similar effect in all styles of chocolate flavors.
Coffee: The effect of 2-phenyl 2-butenal in coffee flavors is much less obvious, but 100 ppm has a noticeable impact on complexity and authenticity.
Honey: This raw material makes a moderate addition to the core profile of honey flavors at around 50 ppm, adding interest and depth.
Malt: For malt and malted milk flavors the effect is more subtle, adding authenticity at around 20 pm.
Savory Flavors
Asparagus: 2-Phenyl 2-butenal adds a little depth and complexity to asparagus flavors. Ten ppm is a good starting level of addition.
Bacon: The effect in bacon flavors is to add realism to the heavier meaty notes. Fifteen ppm works well.
Beef: Exactly the same effect is evident in all styles of beef flavors. The dose rate is also similar.
Cheese: 2-Phenyl 2-butenal can be used at higher levels in all types of cheese flavors, starting at 50 ppm.
Chicken: Fifty ppm is also highly effective in chicken flavors, rounding out the meaty core of the flavor.
Ham and Pork: Adding 2-phenyl 2-butenal to ham and pork flavors is a very similar exercise to adding it to bacon flavors and the dose rates are similar.
Mushroom: 2-phenyl 2-butenal only works on cooked mushroom flavors, where it adds authenticity at around 20 ppm.
Pepper, Bell: 2-Phenyl 2-butenal softens the harshness of methoxy pyrazines in bell pepper flavors at around 5 ppm. It is more effective in cooked bell pepper flavors.
Potato: This ingredient is effective in all cooked potato flavors. The ideal level in fried potato flavors is a little higher than in boiled potato flavors, 50 ppm compared with 20 ppm.This raw material can be used in all cooked seafood flavors starting at 20 ppm.bit24 at Adobe Stock
Seafood: This raw material can be used in all cooked seafood flavors. Twenty ppm is a reasonable starting point. The effect in white fish flavors is also interesting at around 10 ppm.
Soy Sauce: Soy sauce flavors, in general, need something above and beyond the obvious ingredients. 2-Phenyl 2-butenal helps in this regard at 50 ppm.
Tomato, Processed: 2-Phenyl 2-butenal adds little to fresh tomato flavors, but it is helpful in cooked or processed tomato flavors at 20 ppm.
Truffle: The danger with truffle flavors is that they can come across as very simplistic, driven by one major sulfur note. The impact of 2-phenyl 2-butenal is similar to that in cooked mushroom flavors, as is the ideal 20 ppm level of addition.
Nut Flavors
Hazelnut: 2-Phenyl 2-butenal is an extremely useful ingredient in most nut flavors, with the possible exceptions of almond and pistachio, adding complexity and authenticity to the central nutty ketone chemicals. Two hundred ppm is a good level of addition in hazelnut flavors.
Peanut: The impact of 2-phenyl 2-butenal is very similar in peanut flavors but the best level of addition is less obvious, ranging from 100 to 200 ppm.
Praline: Praline flavors behave in a similar way to hazelnut flavors and 200 ppm of 2-phenyl 2-butenal works equally well.
Walnut: Walnut flavors are in a more subtle category than peanut and hazelnut flavors. Consequently, the ideal level of 2-phenyl 2-butenal is a little lower, from 50 to 100 ppm.
Citrus Flavors
Grapefruit: This ingredient might seem a very far fetched possibility in citrus flavors, but it has an interesting, rounding effect at low levels. Five ppm is well worth trying in grapefruit flavors.This ingredient might seem a very far fetched possibility in citrus flavors, but it has an interesting, rounding effect at low levels.valery121283 at Adobe Stock
Orange, Juice: Ten ppm makes a useful addition to orange flavors, working better in juicy profiles than in peely flavors.
Tangerine and Mandarin: Ten ppm is also effective and interesting in both tangerine and mandarin flavors.
Other Flavors
Coconut: 2-Phenyl 2-butenal adds realism to coconut flavors at levels of addition in the region of 50 ppm. It works equally well in fresh and dried coconut flavors and also in coconut water flavors, all at the same 50 ppm level.
Corn: This chemical adds an interesting nuance to corn flavors at around 10 ppm. It is more effective in toasted corn flavors than in sweet corn flavors.
Rose: Everything about this ingredient points to its use in rose flavors and, understandably, the level of addition is an order of magnitude higher than in many other flavors. Five hundred ppm is very effective.
Sake: Sake flavors present an interesting challenge and 2-phenyl 2-butenal adds to the aged aspects at levels around 30 ppm.
Tea, Black: One hundred ppm of 2-phenyl 2-butenal blends into the profile of all black tea flavors, with the exception of Earl Grey tea flavors.
Tea, Green: 2-Phenyl 2-butenal is rather less at home in green tea flavors, but it can add a useful note at a much lower level, around 10 ppm.