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Arts and Sciences | FeaturedFebruary 13, 2026

There's A Reason Why We Like Candy, Chemistry Explains It All

Written By: Ian Silvester

There鈥檚 nothing like showing the person you love how much they mean to you with a box of chocolates or candy and flowers, especially on Valentine鈥檚 Day. While preferences vary from person to person, sometimes it鈥檚 pure chemistry鈥攁nd not always just the chemistry of love. 

Good ole science, aka chemistry, can explain why someone might prefer white chocolate to dark or something sour to something sweet. 

What about flavors? You guessed it, chemistry is the answer. 

University of 香蕉视频APP 鈥� Fort Smith associate professor of chemistry Dr. Jordan Mader breaks down the chemistry of candy and chocolate and how science, down to the molecular level, creates our favorite sweet treats. 

鈥淎t the most basic level, flavor is chemistry interacting with your senses,鈥� Mader said.  

And what exactly is flavor? Mader said flavor comes down to three things: Taste (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami, etc.); smell (the biggest contributor); and mouthfeel (texture, melting, fizzing, or cooling.) 

鈥淐ertified flavor chemists, or flavorists, design, isolate, or combine specific molecules that interact with receptors in your nose and mouth. Many flavors are small organic molecules that mimic compounds found in nature,鈥� she said. 

Mader explained that when flavorists identify the molecule responsible for a natural flavor, such as isoamyl acetate for banana, ethyl butyrate for pineapple, or methyl anthranilate for grape, they can extract it from plants or synthesize it in a lab to achieve a more consistent or pure flavor at much lower cost. 

Flavorists are responsible for giving us flavors that also might not occur naturally and for giving a slightly different taste to the same flavor name. For example, black raspberry and blue raspberry aren鈥檛 found naturally, she said. They are blends of natural flavor analogs, such as red raspberry, with additional flavors or combinations of multiple flavors, such as pineapple, banana, and cherry. When it comes to giving the same flavor a different taste, Mader said to think about 鈥渟trawberry鈥� versus a sucker that claims to be 鈥渨ild strawberry鈥� or 鈥渟trawberry cheesecake鈥� 鈥� distinctly different, but all still 鈥渟trawberry.鈥� 

鈥淐hemistry isn鈥檛 just creating flavor compounds and mixing them,鈥� Mader said. 鈥淭he results fine-tune how your brain experiences a flavor or flavor combination.鈥� 

Science also helps us taste flavors. Sugar substitutes are a great way to reduce sugar while keeping flavor, and at other times, they help amplify sweetness. Science can also explain how some things play chemical tricks on nerves. For example, menthol creates a cooling sensation found in gum, cough drops, mint candy, or chocolate mints. On the other hand, capsaicin activates pain and heat receptors, which explains why Hot Tamales are spicy. 

Acids are used to create a sour perception. To see if sour candy is quick or long-lasting, look at the acid, Mader said. If it has citric acid, it will have a sharp sourness; malic acid will leave a lingering taste. 

When it comes to Valentine鈥檚 Day, Mader said we can all thank chemistry for what we all like. 

鈥淐hocolate is a chemical love letter,鈥� she said.  

Chocolate contains theobromine, caffeine, phenylethylamine, and fats that melt at body temperature, all of which are associated with a mild stimulant, alertness, attraction, or so-called aphrodisiacs, and a luxurious mouthfeel, respectively. 

When it comes to chocolate, texture is just as important as taste. The crystal structure of sugar results in the snap of a chocolate bar. How creamy the chocolate is depends on the size of the sugar crystals, and polymer-like sugar networks create a chewy or crunchy chocolate. 

Love it or hate it, Valentine鈥檚 candy is a mix of molecules, brain chemistry, genetics, and memory or emotion. Thankfully, science can help provide a reason for all of it. 

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