The citrus wheel: a tool for exploring the full richness of citrus profiles
Lemon, orange, grapefruit… Behind these simple names lies a wide diversity of flavor profiles, sometimes very far apart from one another.
At Metarom, we believe that a citrus fruit is never just a single flavor, but a palette of sensations—fresh, zesty, sweet, bitter, juicy, floral, or indulgent, depending on the desired profile.
We developed the citrus flavor wheel to better understand and harness this diversity.
What is a flavor wheel at Metarom?
The flavor wheel is an educational and decision-making tool, designed to:
- Show how one note can carry a variety of different flavor profiles,
- Make it easier to express flavor needs,
- Get R&D, marketing, and our experts speaking the same language.
Instead of talking about citrus in general, the flavor wheel helps pin down the exact flavor profile and steer the choice toward the flavor signature best suited to the final application.
A citrus wheel with seven different flavor profiles.
The Metarom citrus wheel has seven flavors, each aligned with a distinct sensory profile:
In the full tool, each profile comes with:
- A photo that shows its sensory world,
- A simple, easy‑to‑read description of the profile,
- A radar chart that brings out the main flavor cues, such as freshness, acidity, bitterness, sweetness, and intensity.
The goal is to make it quick and intuitive to see the differences between profiles and to help position yourself.
A cross-functional tool, suited to all sectors
The citrus wheel’s profiles can be used in all kinds of sweet products, across every market:
Depending on the profile you choose, citrus can add:
- Freshness,
- A unique flavor signature,
- A bright zesty note or a gentler one,
- A taste balance adapted to the recipe.
Why request the citrus wheel?
Our citrus wheel is crafted for inspiration and precision, guiding you to:
- Fine‑tune your flavor choices,
- Save time in development,
- Express what you’re looking for more clearly,
- Create a citrus signature that fits your product.
We make it available free of charge—just ask.
Request the citrus wheel
Access the full tool and explore all the citrus profiles developed by Metarom.
Our expertise goes well beyond citrus
The citrus wheel is part of Metarom’s bigger mission: creating educational tools that make it easier to understand flavor families and their many expressions.
Over the years, our teams have designed numerous flavor wheels, each focused on a note or family of notes, to help clients fine‑tune their flavor choices.
Some of these wheels are:
All of these wheels work the same way: they show that what looks like a simple note actually hides a wide range of flavor profiles—and that defining them is key to creating the right flavor signature.