With flavor being the product of a complicated, multilayered collection of ingredients and chemical compounds that interact as aromas and individual flavor notes in synchronicity, the task of masking one specific flavor note can be difficult. A greater challenge for today’s processors is that the technique applied must be low-cost, allergen-free, and naturally derived (clean-label), and the result must survive processing.
Part of making that collective work often involves enhancing some flavors and blocking others, depending on the formulation. Typically, an enhancer is designed to function in conjunction with a specific flavor or flavor profile. A masker is used against an overall flavor of the near-final product. However, some ingredients naturally can either mask, enhance, or do both at the same time, even in the same formulation and depending on the need. Salt and sugar are two of the most commonly used and fundamental flavor adjusters — and famously able to accomplish that trick.