Effervescents: Enhancing Flavor & Appeal with Sensient Pharma

Conscientious Consumption: Nutrition & Health  

Health-conscious consumers are prioritizing functional food, beverage and supplement products as part of their nutrition, health and wellness approach and they are placing high importance on all-natural products. This holistic approach to preventative health trend is boosting the product launches for vitamins and dietary supplements.(1) 

Why Consumers Choose Effervescent Tablets?  

One of the most consumed vitamin and dietary supplement formats is effervescent tablets. Effervescent products are available for a wide range of products on the market, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamin and mineral supplements, energy drinks, sports drinks and electrolyte drinks. The effervescent tablet format is preferred by consumers due to the benefits of fast absorption, pleasant taste and increased liquid intake for hydration. Effervescent formats also help people who experience ‘pill fatigue’ and swallowing problems. For various reasons, including flavor, convenience and personal preference, effervescent tablets are growing globally in popularity and are the market is expected to double in the next years.(1,2) 

There is a phenomenon where consumers form judgments on the effectiveness of a medication or supplement based on factors such as taste, shape and color. Studies have shown that consumers believe that if a supplement’s color and taste matches the desired outcome, it is more likely to have a better effect. (3)

Impact of Flavor in Effervescent Tablets 

The presence of active substances in effervescent products can result in an unpleasant taste or aftertaste, causing people to consume less. However, in today’s growing effervescent market, it is important to pay attention to consumers’ demand for more rich flavored and brightly colored effervescent tablets and drinks. (3,4)  

How do you create an effervescent product with a rich flavor profile? Our flavorists are experts in their field and understand the complexity behind building a great tasting, consumer-preferred flavor from the ground up. Sensient offers rich and robust flavors, with optimal dissolving time and low foaming properties for your effervescent application. We can help you create great-tasting products that meet today’s consumer needs not only with flavors but also with taste modulation solutions. Our portfolio includes sweetness modification, mouthfeel enhancement and off-note masking. Our in-depth understanding of taste receptors can help you create products that satisfy multiple senses

Impact of Color in Effervescent Tablets 

Color has always been a factor in brand identity, flavor amplification and consumer recognition. How can you achieve vibrant colors in effervescent tablets and hydrated products?  

If you want the color to be visible, the plating properties for effervescent tablets or powder formats is essential. Standard natural hues do not have plating properties when they are in powder form. For example, because of the size of its particles, the color from beetroot would not mix uniformly and the colored powder would wind up appearing like a salt and pepper mixture. For effervescent tablet and dry drink combinations, a plating-grade natural color that mimics a synthetic lake is the perfect choice. 

 

To achieve bright colors in your effervescent application, Sensient's Microfine™ solution delivers intense and homogeneous natural alternatives to synthetic lakes. This advanced natural coloring solution uniformly blends in effervescent tablets and coats the product with an evenly distributed color. They also provide quick solubility after the powdered beverage has been hydrated.

Sensient will guide you through the formulation, testing and scale-up process to achieve the best solution for you and your customers. Contact us to get more information about our effervescent coloring, flavoring and taste modulation solutions to make your product stand apart from the competition. 

1- Nimer, R. M., Khabour, O. F., Swedan, S. F., & Kofahi, H. M. (2022). The impact of vitamin and mineral supplements usage prior to COVID-19 infection on disease severity and hospitalization. Biomolecules and Biomedicine, 22(5), 826-832.
2- Reddy, D. R. B., Tejaswi, D., Karthik, B., Venkateswarlu, G., Kumar, G. S., Nageswararao, G., & Mahendra, C. A (2022). Review on Effervescent Tablet.
3- Delompré, T., Guichard, E., Briand, L., & Salles, C. (2019). Taste perception of nutrients found in nutritional supplements: A review. Nutrients, 11(9), 2050.
4- Mintel Report - The Future of Nutrition, Health, and Wellness: 2023

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