OSF Flavors tackles protein off-notes with neuroscience-driven taste masking

US-based OSF Flavors has developed a flavor masking technology to address unwanted neurobiological responses to beverage, dairy, and better-for-you bakery products. The method could help make protein-enriched products more commercially viable by improving their taste, texture, and smell.

The technology supports manufacturers in overcoming the unpleasant tastes, such as bitterness, astringency, or off-notes, that can occur in high-protein F&B. The approach offers a “natural and organic solution” to protein masking at a time when “naturalness” is the sixth-most important consumer consideration in F&B purchases, according to Innova Market Insights.

“Our approach is built around that multi-pathway reality. Rather than trying to overwhelm the defect with more flavor, we work to reduce the sensory prominence of the off-notes across multiple dimensions at once,” Pierre Battu, general manager, Asia, at OSF Flavors, tells Food Ingredients First.

“That includes bitterness management, modulation of harsh or drying sensations, and rebalancing the aromatic profile, so the finished product reads as cleaner, rounder, and more coherent. From a sensory science standpoint, the goal is not simply stronger flavor — it is a better integration of the total flavor experience.”

Overcoming protein masking challenges

Battu explains that the company’s protein masking method differs from conventional approaches, which typically add more sweetness, top notes, or characterizing flavor. With such approaches, the underlying protein defect can still be present, says Battu, while “the consumer may perceive intensity, but not cleanliness.”

“We first work to suppress or soften the off-note itself, then build the desired flavor profile on that cleaner sensory base. In technical terms, that can involve bitterness suppression, mouthfeel modulation, aroma balancing, and other masking effects working together,” he explains.

This distinction also offers manufacturers some commercial advantages. “When the masking system is doing more of the corrective work, formulators often do not have to compensate by pushing flavor dosage as aggressively. The result can be a cleaner sensory profile and a more efficient overall cost-in-use,” says Battu.

However, each product category presents a different matrix challenge. 

“In high-protein beverages, especially RTDs and clear protein systems, there is very little fat or viscosity to buffer bitterness, metallic notes, or volatile off-notes, so defects are highly exposed,” Battu continues.OSF Flavors’ approach to tackle protein off-notes highlights how complex and multi-sensory the consumers’ perception of flavor is.

In dairy applications, the system is more complex because protein interacts with fat, acidity, sweetness, fermentation notes, and retronasal release, so the masking solution has to improve cleanliness without flattening the overall profile.

Bakery products present challenges due to thermal processing, which can change both the protein and the flavor system, generating new volatiles and shifting the sensory balance during and after baking.

“We combine taste modulation, aroma balancing, and mouthfeel support in a format developed for solubility, stability, and compatibility with clean label positioning. For the consumer, that translates into a product that delivers protein with less bitterness, less dryness, less flavor fatigue, and a more complete sensory experience overall,” says Battu.

Understanding taste science

OSF Flavors’ masking technology signals how F&B companies are turning to neuroscience to conduct taste tests, measure food emotions, and analyze real-time brain responses to food through digital tools.

A 2023 study published in Clinical Nutrition Open Science explains that the trigeminal effect can help enhance taste perception by leveraging stimuli, such as cooling or tingling in the mouth, to improve the overall taste experience.

“Flavor perception is not generated by taste alone — it is the result of how the brain integrates gustatory input, orthonasal and retronasal aroma, mouthfeel, and trigeminal signals, such as cooling, warming, irritation, or astringency,” Battu explains. 

“That matters because protein off-notes are rarely isolated to one pathway. A formulation can present bitterness on the palate, sulfur or oxidized notes in aroma, and a dry, chalky finish in the same sensory event.”

OSF Flavors’ masking technology works by using what the natural and organic flavor firm calls “complementary mechanisms” and blocks sensory receptors and modulates nerve signals.

The process prevents sensory receptors of off-notes by “neutralizing them at the source.” By modulating taste to mask off-notes and influencing perception by activating taste receptors, it enhances the overall palatability of foods through the balance of acidity and astringency.

The team reduces bitterness perception and balances the flavors using aroma molecules that can inhibit the perception of off-notes as a competitive aroma and uses the “trigeminal effect” to improve flavor perception in protein-based foods.Using protein masking systems allows formulators to reduce flavor dosage, resulting in a cleaner sensory profile and more cost-efficient production.

The plant-based taste challenge

OSF Flavors’ masking technology supports the F&B industry’s efforts to tackle off‑flavors and sensory gaps in protein and plant‑based foods. Multiplying protein options are pushing companies and scientists beyond protein innovation toward science-driven solutions to address the taste challenge.

Last year, dsm-firmenich launched its ModulaSense maskers to neutralize bitterness in ready-to-mix drinks and protein bars. Meanwhile, Givaudan is turning to sensory mapping, Biospringer to yeast fermentation, and Sensient to biotransformation to ensure protein flavors appeal to consumer taste buds.

For OSF Flavors, the protein masking journey began 30 years ago. “It started with soy-based systems, where beany, earthy, and green notes were major barriers to consumer acceptance, and then expanded into whey and other protein systems, where the challenges shifted toward bitterness, sulfur notes, dryness, and lingering aftertaste,” Battu tells us.

“Over time, one thing became very clear — in protein-fortified products, nutrition may drive trial, but taste drives repeat purchase.”

“That is what pushed us to keep advancing the technology. In the US market, protein has moved well beyond sports nutrition. It is now a core formulation challenge in RTD beverages, meal replacement, cultured dairy, bars, and functional bakery.”

As formulators push protein higher, sensory defects become more apparent and “much harder to solve with conventional flavor systems alone,” he emphasizes.

Future of protein masking

As the US protein market diversifies, Battu says the sensory challenges are becoming more complex. 

“Formulators are now working across whey, soy, pea, rice, oat, blended systems, and newer fermentation-derived ingredients, each with a different off-note profile, functionality, and processing behavior. We see masking technology becoming a more strategic part of formulation design, not just a finishing correction.”

“Our investment in our new R&D center in Windsor, Connecticut, reflects that direction. We are continuing to build our capabilities in off-note characterization, matrix analysis, and application-specific sensory optimization, so we can support the next generation of protein products more effectively.”

The aim is to help manufacturers close the gap between nutritional performance and consumer acceptability in categories where taste still decides long-term success.