Let's talk a little about aromas

Dealing with a subject which has been discussed at length, very often with correctness, others perhaps with inaccuracies which have generated a little confusion, may seem pointless, but today vaping is expanding and for those who are approaching or have recently approached it, a little clarification on the subject might be useful.

FLAVOURINGS: ORGANIC, NATURAL, MACERATED, EXTRACTS, SYNTHETIC, ARTIFICIAL...... INORGANIC???

Dealing with a subject which has been discussed at length, very often with correctness, others perhaps with inaccuracies which have generated a little confusion, may seem pointless, but today vaping is expanding and for those who are approaching or have recently approached it, a little clarification on the subject might be useful.

Let's talk about definitions first, that of the so-called organic liquids for example, in chemistry the word organic refers to the presence of Carbon, very few inorganic molecules contain Carbon (CO2 for example) the definition "organic" of the US matrix instead relates to our concept of " biological" and follows specific parameters in order to be able to use the definition. So the first statement that can be made in this respect is that ALL the liquids we use are ORGANIC, I think very few are ''ORGANIC''. Inorganic flavourings, on the other hand, do not exist.

It follows that, technically, organic stands for both natural flavourings, such as extracts, and so-called synthetic or natural identical flavourings..

BUT THEN THERE ARE ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURINGS?

There are those too, but artificial flavourings are another category, again of organic flavourings, which are distinguished by the type of taste they reconstruct. Let me make it clearer: there is no such thing as a strudel, panettone or pizza flavour in nature, but with other flavourings you can construct something reminiscent of these tastes. It is obviously an artificial flavour that cannot by definition be homologous to a natural or natural identical flavour and is therefore called artificial.

Natural flavourings, as mentioned above, are divided into two main groups in vaping: those of natural origin and originating from the food industry and natural flavourings which in vaping are referred to as macerated or extracts. Macerates and extracts are terms referring to the methods of preparing the flavour itself. Maceration involves the infusion of a plant matrix in a solvent that can also subsequently be removed and replaced with another (e.g. first ethanol and after evaporation PG). Extraction is a method using equipment that gives the process greater efficiency by allowing the preparation of aromas of higher concentration (hot distillation extractions, in CO2, in cold autoclaves). Therefore extracts are not easily prepared at home as the cost of equipment is generally high and is only justified on the margins of professional production.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN MATURATION?

In the case of flavourings, their full aromatic availability is potentially different depending on the type. Synthetic, natural and extracts can have different 'maturation' times. For example, the maturation of macerates or extracts can also be achieved in a modest amount of time (I am impatient and usually use them cooked and eaten :-) ) although it is true that with time the aroma's tonality tends to change, but this does not mean that it becomes better, perhaps it simply rounds off its top notes becoming more homogeneous. It is not certain that this rounding can please everyone or be objectively better in absolute value with a universal rule concept. Certainly if you like more amalgamated flavours that are less angular, a longer maturation helps and if you then want to speed up the waiting time a little help with heating is useful. The heat or rather a small temperature gradient improves the speed of reaction and thus the so-called maturation. Then tastes are tastes, and certainly if the aroma concentration is raised, the greater the perception of aromatic consistency in the short term (as long as you don't overdo it because beyond the solubility limits you can't go to improve the taste and everything easily becomes unpleasant, especially if we are talking about synthetic aromas).

It has to be said that the 'strength' of a flavouring in the flavouring industry represents its dilution recommended by the manufacturer for specific uses (candies, drinks, confectionery...), the values are very wide and range from 1:1000 to 1:20,000 for example, i.e. from 1 gram/kg up to 1 gram/20kg. Someone will then ask why flavourings that are bought for vaping have to be added in higher percentages. There are basically two explanations: the first is that professional flavourings are generally stronger than those available on the vape market, the second is that the eliquid has different yields, in terms of concentration, from a preparation for making sweets or soft drinks. The sugar component then in food is more perceptible and in fact acts as an enhancer by cheating our taste buds. Trying to perceive the taste of what is meant to be eaten or drunk by breathing it in is intuitively a different matter. Try to think of the use of drippers which, if badly set up or with short drippers close to the coils, cause drops of aroma to fly into the mouth along with the vapour: the aroma seems stronger, but we simply use more taste receptors and are amicably deceived by our senses.

There is another technical aspect: putting in a lot of aroma does not mean making a liquid that good, just try to taste any synthetic aroma: your taste buds will get irritated and most probably the taste will not be recognisable. So the correct dosage is something that needs to be taken care of a lot and that is linked to the potential solubilisation of the flavouring itself. What cannot be solubilised is basically useless and harmful.

Generally speaking, in the case of extracts (or even more so in the case of macerates), the strength of the aroma is lower precisely because the extraction starts from the plant matrix, without help from chemistry, and more time is needed to fully carry out the solubilisation reactions. Synthetic flavourings are therefore generally more readily available and therefore very often recognised as ready by most vapers in a short time.

There are no universal rules, it all depends on what needs to be solubilised. I'll give an example: the vapers who say that Custards must mature longer are right, in fact very often acetyl propionyl is used in these preparations, which is a molecule insoluble in glycerine. Clearly its solubilisation then takes place in a solvent which, especially if we are talking about liquids with a lot of VG, can only partially solubilise it, and hence the longer maturation time which is related to the lower availability of PG which is the solvent.

So far we have talked about solubilisation not to be confused with oxidation.

In chemistry, reactions take place according to stoichiometric ratios which identify, within the reaction itself, how many atoms can chemically bond with others. This depends on the gram/mole weight of each atom, i.e. how much a gram/mole containing a number (Avogadro) of atoms of a specific weight weighs. If the reaction is e.g. 2 to 1, two gram/moles of atom 1 and 1 gram/mole of atom 2 are needed. The remainder is available for bonding in a different way because it is no longer needed for that reaction to take place. Finally, temperature affects solubilisation because reaction rates are proportional to temperature, which is why a little heating promotes the rate at which the preparation solubilises.

Quite different is oxidation i.e. bringing oxygen into the mixture causing reactions that are not the intended ones, if we leave a slice of salami in the air it oxidises, it does not mature. We may like the result (in which case we also have bacterial proliferation to contribute ;-) ) but it is not the expected one. So the discussed magnetic stirrers work to introduce energy in kinetic form and improve reaction rates but if the vortexes bring oxygen then oxidation starts which is another thing altogether, if you use them it is good to make modest vortexes and keep the flavours well closed while the stirrer is running.

Basically, each maturation has its own personality or practice that is related to the chemical-physical reaction that is desired, provoked and exploited. Universal rules do not exist, but rather criteria that have in the case of vaping, in addition to precise technical rules, a validation in personal taste. The classification of aromas, on the other hand, is an objective fact.

This is not to say that, metaphorically, one should not eat salami or drink the farmer's wine, but to try to understand that what is good is sometimes uncontrolled and should be consumed with proper consideration.