CITRAL – aldehydic, lemony and fruity note with hints of lemon peel, fresh citrus fruits and yellow sweets

Strong, lemony, pungent scent, reminiscent of lemon. Identical natural substance (the main component of many essential oils, such as citronella oil, litsea cubeba, and others), therefore very useful for imparting freshness and citrus notes. Low stability when exposed to air, alkalis, or sunlight. Not suitable for use in detergents and household products.
Taste: Fresh, fruity, citrusy, sweet like candy.
It is very frequently used in aromatic compositions to imitate lemon, grapefruit, orange, lime and, thanks to its freshly squeezed citrus note, to impart perfume to apple, cherry, strawberry, etc.
In perfumery compositions it gives intense freshness and vivacity.
Colorless liquid. May turn yellow when exposed to air and sunlight.
Insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, mixes with most essential and aromatic oils.
Widely used as a potent, lemony-scented chemical, but with low stability in many types of functional products. Air, alkalis, and sunlight have a destructive effect on this aldehyde, while anthranilate, indole, quinolines, and many other perfumery chemicals form dark-colored reaction products with citral. Therefore, its use is limited, and citral concentrations are low in most perfumes.
Often used in aromatic compositions.
It is used to imitate the scent of apples, cherries, ginger, grapes, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, spices, strawberries, and even vanilla.
The concentration in the finished product is usually around 40 parts per million, but can reach 150-170 parts per million in chewing gum.

Olfactory studies have confirmed that nitriles often have odors similar to those of their corresponding aldehydes, which is why geranylnitrile is becoming increasingly popular in perfumery compositions. It has a penetrating and powerful aroma, oily and green, fresh like lemon, somewhat reminiscent of citral, but overall it is more pungent, less sweet, and not as natural in its notes.
When diluted to less than 5 parts per million, the taste is distinctly lemony, but at the same time somewhat "metallic" and not overly sweet. It should be noted that in a diluted aqueous environment, this material has a weaker effect than citral obtained under similar conditions.
This substance is a representative of a large family of nitriles, developed for perfumery since Georges Igolen, in the late 1940s, began producing nitriles parallel to aliphatic aldehydes, and has received a high rating for its citral-like effect and its relatively good stability under slightly alkaline conditions (for example, in soap).
However, it's not possible to replace citral with this nitrile in an existing formula. To improve the odor, a smaller amount of nitrile can be used, but the natural sweetness of lemon must be achieved with other chemicals.
Due to its chemical nature, this material is unstable in flavorings that contain acids.