An ingredient co-occurrence network gives insight into e-liquid flavor complexity
Introduction Part of the appeal of e-cigarettes lies in their available flavors. To achieve attractive flavors, e-liquids contain many different flavoring agents, which allow many flavoring combinations. To advance our knowledge of e-liquid flavors and compositions and to evaluate the effect of legi...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Tobacco Induced Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tobaccoinduceddiseases.org/An-ingredient-co-occurrence-network-gives-insight-into-ne-liquid-flavor-complexity,175955,0,2.html |
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| Summary: | Introduction
Part of the appeal of e-cigarettes lies in their available flavors. To
achieve attractive flavors, e-liquids contain many different flavoring agents, which
allow many flavoring combinations. To advance our knowledge of e-liquid flavors
and compositions and to evaluate the effect of legislation, we determined whether
there are ingredient combinations that are frequently used together.
Methods
We used e-cigarette ingredient data from the European Common Entry
Gate system (EU-CEG) as available on 31 December 2022.
Results
In e-liquids, we found 214 ingredient pairs with a co-occurrence odds ratio
greater than 10. Together, these consisted of 62 unique ingredients. Network
analysis revealed that ingredients were grouped together based on their flavor
and/or chemical structure. We identified two densely connected regions (clusters)
in the network. One consisted of six ingredients with sweet-vanilla-creamy flavors.
The second cluster consisted of 13 ingredients. While some of these have fruity
flavors, others, such as alkyl carboxylic acids and dimethyl sulfide, are known to
have unpleasant flavors. Additional data and literature analyses indicated that
alkyl carboxylic acids can contribute to a creamy and sweet-fruity taste, whereas
dimethyl sulfide can contribute to a more refined fruity taste.
Conclusions
These results exemplify that the flavor of e-liquids is not just the sum
of its parts. Big data analyses on product data can be used to detect such patterns,
but expert knowledge and additional data are needed for further interpretation.
Monitoring of e-liquid flavors as well as ingredients will remain important to
regulate e-liquid product attractiveness. |
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| ISSN: | 1617-9625 |