Translating Food Pairing Fundamentals into Flavor Pairing for Within-Product Flavor Creation

Abstract Food pairing has attracted a significant amount of research interest in recent decades, especially regarding food-beverage combinations. The concepts used in food-beverage pairing could be similarly applied to flavor recipe creation, where flavor-pairing helps guide ingredient selection to produce enjoyable flavor profiles. However, presently, there is no research focusing on within-product flavor pairing properties that explain why certain combinations are perceived as pleasant beyond empirical observation or cultural convention. Therefore, this review aims to (1) translate the scientific understanding of food pairing into within-product flavor creation by reviewing the history of food pairing, elucidating the mechanisms and their impact factors governing food pairing effects, and assessing food pairing major principles and hypotheses; and (2) propose a flavor pairing approach framework in within-product flavor creation by examining sensory-based methodologies for evaluating flavor pairing effects, instrumental approaches for characterizing flavor-associated compounds, databases of flavor molecules, and emerging predictive approaches (e.g., machine learning and artificial intelligence) for within-product flavor pairing prediction and design. Overall, this review seeks to provide an integrated understanding of food pairing principles and use this knowledge as a scientific foundation for translating food pairing concepts into within-product flavor pairing, advancing both scientific practical applications in flavor design and innovation.