Process for producing a green leaf essence

摘要

A process for producing a natural flavorant, green leaf essence, containing leaf aldehyde, leaf alcohol and at least 10% cis-3-hexenal is disclosed. The process comprises homogenizing strawberry leaves with or without stems attached thereto in water to form a slurry. Prior to homogenization or concurrently therewith, from 1 to 10 mM of linolenic acid is added. The homogenate is then fed to a scraped or wiped surface evaporator and subsequently fractionated and concentrated to form a green leaf essence. The essence may be added to a food product to impart a fresh green fruity flavor and/or enhance the fresh flavor impact of the food product.