The ingredients list usually just says "artificial flavor" and leaves it at that. Some of these naturally occur in the foods they're designed to imitate, but are synthesized in the lab due to scarcity of the genuine article.
Orange: Octyl Acetate, CH3(CH2)7O2CCH3
Banana, Juicy Fruit: Isoamyl Acetate, aka banana oil, CH3COOC5H11
Vanilla, Sweet Chocolate: Ethylvanillin, (C2H5O)(HO)C6H3CHO
Blackberry, Pineapple: Propyl Hexanoate, C9H18O2
Cinnamon: Ethyl Cinnamate, C11H12O2
Butter: diacetyl and acetoin
It will probably take a lot of digging to find the exact chemical compounds used for common flavors such as strawberry, grape, or cherry. The articles I read only reveal that a broad category of "esters" are used in many artificial fruit flavors.
There are only about 500 certified flavorists in the world responsible for creating new artificial flavors.
Orange: Octyl Acetate, CH3(CH2)7O2CCH3
Banana, Juicy Fruit: Isoamyl Acetate, aka banana oil, CH3COOC5H11
Vanilla, Sweet Chocolate: Ethylvanillin, (C2H5O)(HO)C6H3CHO
Blackberry, Pineapple: Propyl Hexanoate, C9H18O2
Cinnamon: Ethyl Cinnamate, C11H12O2
Butter: diacetyl and acetoin
It will probably take a lot of digging to find the exact chemical compounds used for common flavors such as strawberry, grape, or cherry. The articles I read only reveal that a broad category of "esters" are used in many artificial fruit flavors.
There are only about 500 certified flavorists in the world responsible for creating new artificial flavors.
