The chemistry of Peach

Mid-modern Times

Bearing in mind that the formulators of the aforementioned mixtures had nothing at their disposal but the few raw materials of the time and their skills in organoleptic evaluation, since the few studies on the constitution were negligible, we can only note that at the beginning beyond this level of imitation it was not so easy to get there.

Everything was centered on flowering, spicing, fruiting, and sweetening the note of the Benzoic Aldehyde, which according to what we will later say was practically the only constituent exactly identified in the natural complex, and this was also accomplished by using products that were not exactly congenial as in the case of ethyl and Methyl Cinnamates, endowed with a honeyed or fruity (Raspberry) note, respectively, or in giving an ethereal cue to the C14 Aldehyde that came on the market as a panacea to simplify things.

Peach flavour in beverages

Regardless, however, of the fidelity of imitation simply by looking at the list of constituents chosen in the various formulas, we can see that the criteria of using Citrus notes in large quantities in liqueur-making, decreases their percentage in the presence of unstable esters as much as the aroma was intended for hot processing, and even using for the latter purpose a lactone with a minimum percentage of esters obeyed exactly those rules of chemical-physical compatibility between aroma constituents and between aroma and foodstuff that underlie functional formulation.

Among the flavoring substances reported so far, only one, Gamma-undecalactone, in addition to the background aroma of Benzoic Aldehyde, has an aroma that well resembles that of Peach while the others can only be considered as side notes made more harmonious by the presence of essential oils or even Vanillin.

Additional Synthetics ingredients for Peach aroma

We now point out some products that would not clash in peach-note compositions as we feel them close to that aroma.