why does chewing gum, like Juicy Fruit or Fruit Stripe gum for example, always lose its flavor after 20 seconds? Is the flavor just a topical thing?

Question

why does chewing gum, like Juicy Fruit or Fruit Stripe gum for example, always lose its flavor after 20 seconds? Is the flavor just a topical thing?

In: 772

Answer 1

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Answer 2

It is a good question!
And well worth asking.

I all comes down to the [Dragee technique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag%C3%A9e)!

ELI5 part:
In the gum, producers put a layer of hard-stuff around the taste-part of the gum.
Your spit dissolves that hard-stuff slowly, letting out -the taste- slowly.
That is why some gum taste longer.

There are even companies dedicated to the technique:
[https://www.tastetech.com/updates/create-chewing-gum-that-lasts-longer-with-encapsulated-high-intensity-sweeteners/](https://www.tastetech.com/updates/create-chewing-gum-that-lasts-longer-with-encapsulated-high-intensity-sweeteners/)

I found another reddit thread that asked a similar question a while ago.
Perhaps it is worth a read?[https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/31jh9n/eli5_how_does_the_science_of_chewing_gum_keeping/](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/31jh9n/eli5_how_does_the_science_of_chewing_gum_keeping/)

Answer 3

I’ve had this question myself, and later on I wondered if I had it backwards: if you chewed on anything for as long as you chewed on a stick of gum, would it still have flavor?

My suspicion is that gum isn’t particularly special in this regard. Maybe mint flavorings last in the mouth longer than fruit and artificial fruit flavorings, so Fruit Stripe stands out as being particularly ephemeral as far as taste goes. But I would be surprised if a piece of fruit retained its flavor longer than fruit gum does.

Answer 4

Gum is made out of rubber, and it’s mixed with sugar and flavorings. Once those flavor crystals and sugar crystals dissolve, you’re chewing on vaguely flavored rubber. It won’t take long before the flavor is gonna dissipate with almost any gum, and the lower quality product (looking at you, fruit stripe) will fade faster.

Answer 5

The flavourings and sweeteners are made of chemicals that are known to be very volatile and dissolve or diffuse very rapidly in water (saliva).

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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Answer 8

I think that the OP is asking why FRUIT flavored gums seem to lose flavor much more quickly than MINT flavored gums…