Fruit flavors: these lead the pack in food production

Chances are variety comes to mind when thinking about fruit flavors. Their range is one of the reasons they are so popular in the food industry. So, keep reading to learn more about fruit categories and the most common flavors of fruit in food products.

Fruit 101

Technically speaking, a fruit is the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of a flowering plant that encloses seeds. So, bananas, peaches, corn grains, and tomatoes are all fruits. However, consumers limit the concept to succulent or pulpy produce that tastes sweet or sour (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021).

There are two broad categories of fruits (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021):

• Dry fruits, like legumes, cereal grains, nuts, and capsulate fruits.
• Fleshy fruits, like berries, aggregate fruits, and multiple fruits.

Fleshy fruits fall into other categories according to their structure (Grant, 2021. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021):

• Drupe: plum, peach, cherry, and coconut.
• Berry: grape, tomato, blackberries, cranberries, and strawberries.
• Pepo: watermelon, pumpkin, and cucumber.
• Hesperidium: orange, grapefruit, and lemon.
• Pome: apple, pear, and kiwi.

Moreover, consumers tend to sort fruits according to their growth schedule. Depending on where they are, some markets have seasonal fruits. On the other hand, location also determines they are considered out of the ordinary in specific markets. Some tropical fruits are now common due to international trade, like mangos and bananas. Others remain exotic, like mangosteen and tamarind.

Fruit flavors in food production

Fruit is not only a popular good itself, but it is also a star among natural ingredients in food production. Manufacturers use fruit for multiple applications: from natural preservatives that conserve other food products (Kingsley, 2016) to fruit purees to instill flavor and nutrients (Allied Market Research, 2021).

The success of purees to imprint fruit flavors

Today, purees are part of a wide range of products, like beverages, dairy, confectionery, baby food, cake filling, jams, and jellies (Grand View Research, 2020). In fact, the global fruit puree market is expected to expand in the coming years with a healthy Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6 % up to 2027 (Grand View Research, 2020).

Furthermore, its recent performance in the United States seems to confirm the trend. During the last four years, fruit puree has had a 5 % value CAGR in the American market. This has to do with a need to offer healthier products to answer consumers’ demands (Persistence Market Research, 2021).

Such a performance begs the question: why are fruit purees seen as a healthy component in food? Well, they retain the flavor of the fruits and nutrients from fresh produce, naturally enhancing the taste and color of final products (Allied Market Research, 2021). Additionally, purees act as non-artificial sweeteners and texture enhancers (Grand View Research, 2020).

Most popular fruit flavors in the food industry