What is juicy fruit flavor

The mystery of what Juicy Fruit gum is supposed to taste like is probably as old as the classic chewing gum brand itself -- around years. Wrigley, the company that makes Juicy Fruit, has long been tight-lipped on exactly what ingredients go into the gum's unique flavor, but a new video from Today I Found Out offers an interesting explanation of what it could be.

Of course, the front of a normal pack of Juicy Fruit doesn't include any images or mentions of specific fruit while the back of the packaging only goes so far as to say the gum is made with "natural and artificial flavors. But the question remains: is Juicy Fruit made with real fruit juice?

Interestingly, a fairly obscure fruit called Jackfruit has been known to taste and smell remarkably like Juicy Fruit, which has led some to speculate if it's the origin of the gum's flavor, although there's doesn't appear to be any evidence that Wrigley imports the fruit or its juice, according to the video.

The association with the fruit, however, has caused some to wonder if the key flavor ingredient is an organic compound called isoamyl acetate , which has a flavor profile similar to bananas and pears. Isoamyl acetate, sometimes referred to as banana oil or essence of pear, is a common ingredient in bubble gum, and some fruits produce it naturally as they ripen. When Juicy Fruit first appeared on store shelves back in , isoamyl acetate was most commonly produced by whiskey distilleries as a byproduct—and at the time, Illinois, also home to Wrigley, produced more than 18 million gallons of the hard stuff every year.

Smells Like Science speculates that Wrigley purchased isoamyl acetate from local distilleries until a synthetic process became available some years later.

Much like the Colonel's 11 secret herbs and spices, or Coke's "7x" flavoring, we may never know what, exactly, is in Juicy Fruit gum. Another fact that is not mentioned is that this is one of the few gums that people for practice Halal are able to chew this type of gum. They are able to chew the regular type of gum not the ones that have the coating of the extra flavoring.

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