Usually artificial flavors do a good job at tasting like things that they aren’t, except for artificial strawberry flavors. I like them, but they taste nothing like strawberries, even for an artificial flavor.
In: Chemistry
There’s four potential areas
1. Sugar. Artificial strawberry can contain non sucrose sugar different from natural strawberries
2. Addition of acids / preservatives: citric acids can be added to artificial strawberry to enhance flavor
3. Food coloring: certain food dyes have a specific flavor or aroma to them
4. Artificial flavoring: kind of self explanatory but lab made flavor and aromatic chemicals may be added
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Artificial flavors are one or two chemical compounds that are easily manufactured in a lab. This is a pretty good match for a lot of fruits.
Artificial strawberry flavor is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethyl_methylphenylglycidate. Actual strawberries have a [much more complicated chemical tasting profile.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry#Flavor_and_fragrance)
Additionally, strawberries are low-sugar for a fruit, so any kind of strawberry candy is kind of doomed from the outset.
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Because it isn’t strawberry. It is an ester (chemical) that happens to taste similar to stawberries.
Actual strawberries have [many different chemical compounds](https://edu.rsc.org/feature/whats-in-your-strawberries/2020275.article) that contribute to their smell and taste, and [many more](https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/ingredients-of-an-all-natural-strawberry/) that don’t *significantly* contribute but may play some part in the overall flavor that you detect. Another component is [mouthfeel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouthfeel), which is the physical sensations associated with a food but not directly related to taste. Mouthfeel can still affect taste, though – for example, many people don’t like the “taste” of mushrooms, when in reality they don’t like the often rubbery texture. The negative mouthfeel “tricks” them into disliking the taste. Add blended mushrooms to a stew or gravy or soup so the mouthfeel is different, and suddenly they like the taste. (Not universally true, of course: some people just don’t like the taste, either.)
Artificial fruit flavors use two or three of the most prominent chemical compounds that are associated with the natural flavor, along with a butt-ton of sugar for sweetness. It’s nearly impossible to fully replicate the *exact* list of compounds in *exactly* the same ratios. That would be a lot of work and if they cared that much, they’ll just use actual strawberries. But even actual strawberry juice doesn’t taste the same, because of the change in mouthfeel, along with some changes made during processing.
Side note for processing: most juices are extracted from the fruit and then deoxygenated and maybe dehydrated/concentrated. Any pulp is removed and stored separately (also deoxygenated and dehydrated). Both may or may not be frozen. All of this is done to preserve the juice so the fruit can be harvested in the peak season, processed, and then the juice can sit in a tank for six months to be sold off peak season. Brands also want more control over the flavor so customers know what they’re getting in each bottle, instead of every bottle being like a wine that depends on the harvest. To control the flavor, a lot of the flavor compounds are removed and then added back in at more specific ratios to give that brand’s particular flavor. The result is much more consistent juice. And, since all of the ingredients came from that fruit (or other natural sources) it’s still all natural, even though it’s about as far from being “natural” as it could be. Which is…fine, it’s the same chemicals either way, although the sugar content might be higher and you might not like the resulting flavor as much.
Regardless, the point is that artificial flavors only use the most important flavors and ignore the rest. And, they can’t mimic the mouthfeel of the fruit. The result is a flavor that is recognizably strawberry (or blueberry or grape) but lacks the complex flavors of the real fruit.
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