Could Artificial Aromas Smell Like The Real Thing?

This past year, "Aroma R-evolution" kit came out with four forks and 21 vials of full aromas including oil, smoke and mint that can be enhanced by dropping a scented liquid on a fork.

Of course, our taste buds already determine much of how we distinguish certain foods from others or tastes-such as sweet, bitter, salty and sour. And an even bigger part of tasting something is smelling it. In fact, flavor perception is about 80 percent determined by what's going on in your nose.

That's why the devices like this and other flavor enhances may not seem quite authentic. 

"If you take strawberry," says Jane Parker, the founder and director of theFlavour Centre at Reading University, via The Guardian, "you'll get your fruity note, but you'll also have a mushroom note in there. And you'll have a green note, a grassy note and a honey note."

Coming up with the right flavor can be difficult as an individual's perception of smell comes with different concentrations of that aroma.

"Everyone's got different receptors, so trying to make a flavouring that matches for everybody is very, very hard," she added, via the Guardian. 

Though each flavor comes with it's own chemical concoction, the chemical benzldehyde is used for any almond flavor compounds. However, some have found that this taste is not similar to the fresh nuts you think of when you hear the word.

Have you tried this or other artificial flavorings?