Comparison of Artificial Flavors in Commercial Products and Actual Natural Flavor via Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy Data.

In this research project, real natural strawberries bought from different local sources were profiled by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GCMS). These profiles were then used as a reference to compare GCMS profiles of commercial artificial strawberry flavor products such as strawberry flavored Cool Splashers™, Gatorade®, and Aquacal® flavored water. The chromatograms obtained were patterned using simple visual observations, scatter plot designs, Mann-Whitney U Test, and correlation coefficients. The artificially flavored commercial products tend to have simpler chromatograms. The Burger King® milkshake, Gatorade®, and Hi-C® are the most similar to that of the natural strawberry flavor. Their correlation coefficients are 0.972, 0.870, and 0.984 respectively. The Mann-Whitney U Test results also support the conclusions from correlation coefficients. However, the natural products tend to have more constituents including the main flavoring compounds. Thus fresh produce have better flavor and are more nutritious for a good reason