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Vanillin, one of the most widely used and appreciated flavoring agents worldwide, is the main constituent of vanilla bean extract, obtained from the seed pods of various members belonging to the Orchidaceae family. Due to the great demand in the food confectionery industry, as well as in the perfume industry, medicine, and more, the majority of vanillin used today is produced synthetically, and only less than one percent of the world's vanilla flavoring market comes directly from the traditional natural sources. The increasing global demand for vanillin requires alternative and overall sustainable new production methods, and the recovery from biobased polymers, like lignin, is an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical synthesis. The present review provides firstly an overview of the different types of vanillin, followed by a description of the main differences between natural and synthetic vanillin, their preparation, the market of interest, and the authentication issues and the related analytical techniques. Then, the review explores the real potentialities of lignin for vanillin production, presenting firstly the well-assessed classical methods and moving towards the most recent promising approaches through chemical, biotechnological and photocatalytic methodologies, together with the challenges and the principal issues associated with each technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vanillin, one of the most widely used and appreciated flavoring agents worldwide, is the main constituent of vanilla bean extract, obtained from the seed pods of various members belonging to the Orchidaceae family. Due to the great demand in the food confectionery industry, as well as in the perfume industry, medicine, and more, the majority of vanillin used today is produced synthetically, and only less than one percent of the world’s vanilla flavoring market comes directly from the traditional natural sources. The increasing global demand for vanillin requires alternative and overall sustainable new production methods, and the recovery from biobased polymers, like lignin, is an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical synthesis. The present review provides firstly an overview of the different types of vanillin, followed by a description of the main differences between natural and synthetic vanillin, their preparation, the market of interest, and the authentication issues and the related analytical techniques. Then, the review explores the real potentialities of lignin for vanillin production, presenting firstly the well-assessed classical methods and moving towards the most recent promising approaches through chemical, biotechnological and photocatalytic methodologies, together with the challenges and the principal issues associated with each technique.

Truffle-flavored olive oils sell at a high premium compared to unflavored oils, yet, their rarely contain either real truffles or natural truffle aroma. Our aim here was to characterize truffle oils and explore techniques for authentication. Specifically, we characterized and compared by metabolic profiling and stable isotope ratio analysis the flavors emitted by commercial and home-made truffle-flavored oils (prepared with natural and synthetic flavors), non-flavored oils, and actual fruiting bodies of the white truffle Tuber magnatum . Stable isotope ratio analysis (δ 13 C) of 2,4-dithiapentane, a characteristic truffle odorant detected in most flavored oil samples, could not differentiate between natural and synthetic flavors. By contrast, metabolic profiling revealed that truffle flavor was imprinted to oils by four to six sulfur containing volatiles, two of which (dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl sulfone) were exclusively detected in commercial oils, regardless of their synthetic or natural labeling. Overall our results also highlight inconsistencies in product labelling and question the authenticity of oils claiming to contain only natural truffle flavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]