Decoding Blueberry Flavour

If you asked someone to describe blueberry flavour, I suspect most people would have a hard time describing it beyond the standard "fruity" descriptor. In reality, blueberry is a simple flavour and can be made with just two ingredients, linalool and cis-3-hexanol (leaf alcohol) . The link below will lead you to a patent from 1977 that details this simple binary flavour, though the inventor does work with additional compounds.

Blueberry Flavour Patent

Though binary flavour mixtures are easy, I do prefer to have a more rounded flavour. Most fruits contain various esters, and the recipe below is no different and incorporates four esters to good effect. The formula also includes vanillin, which rounds out the flavour profile but could be seen as optional if you want a more natural flavour.

If you've been following along with the last few videos, this flavour uses 4 compounds that have been used in the previous formulas. Aside from linalool, two new esters are included: ethyl isovalerate which learns towards apple in its flavour profile and ethyl 2-methyl butyrate which has a generic fruit aroma an can easily be worked into many fruit flavours.

Blueberry Flavour Formula

0.75 g Linalool
1.25 g Cis-3-Hexanol
4.00 g Ethyl Acetate
2.00 g Ethyl Isovalerate
1.00 g Ethyl-2Methyl Butyrate
0.50 g Isoamyl Butyrate
0.50 g Vanillin
40.0 g Propylene Glycol

I can say this is a decent flavour, and as I mentioned in the video, it can come across as slightly artificial. Though most people associate blueberry with commercial flavours and not necessarily the fruit.

Alternative Blueberry Flavour

I haven't tried this one, and it is definitely more complex and notably doesn't contain linalool or cis-3-hexanol. The formula comes from a rather detailed patent (US4312888), with this being just one demo formula. If you are inclined to try it, please share any feedback in the comment section.

3.00 Heliotropin
0.20 4-Terpinenol 10%
1.50 Benzaldehyde
0.20 para-Anisaldehyde
0.40 Phenyl Acetaldehyde
0.50 Benzyl Formate
2.00 Benzyl Acetate
0.50 cis-3-Hexenyl Benzoate 10%
2.00 Methyl Hexanoate
1.00 Hexanal
0.50 Eucalyptol 1%
0.20 Eugenol
3.00 Acetaldehyde
21.00 Ethyl Acetate
26.00 Ethyl Butyrate
38.00 Propylene Glycol

100.000 Total

Ethyl Acetate

Due to the volatile nature of ethyl acetate, there are limited suppliers, though it is an essential ester for flavour development. If you are serious about making your own flavours I would recommend ordering a decent volume (500 mL) of this product. It has a really long shelf life; I've had my bottle for over 10 years, and it finds its way into many formulas. Buy only pure ethyl acetate, not diluted with another solvent. Here are a few suppliers:

Bulkaroma (India): I have ordered from this company multiple times. Their products are good, and the shipping is relatively quick, though not free. The upside is that for larger volumes (200 mL plus), they have excellent prices, which makes up for the lack of free shipping.

Perfumers World (Thailand): A good source with free shipping (minimum order requirements), though the prices tend to be higher and there are no discounts for larger volumes.

Fraterworks (New Zealand): Top quality product but expensive, though they do offer free shipping with a minimum order.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them below.