[A. Pole]

But not all flavors are complex, whether they come from a plant or a reaction vessel. Eugenol (clove) is an example, consisting of a single compound. So, what is then "real" if the molecules are utterly identical? Do the eugenol molecules from the plant have a different 'soul' than the synthetic ones? I think not.

Very interesting what you wrote. Still in real life the synthetic component might be less pure than we assume - for example supposedly healthier margarine can be contaminated with toxic stuff left from the time of manufacturing. Real life business can cut the corners, people can cheat or make mistakes.

Also we do not know so much. There can be unknown chemical factors like the dynamic structure/structural memory or overlooked components. Science explained only a small fraction of the universe and significant part of it can be wrong.

So I will take my clove as the nature made it, and yes I like to think that plants have souls. You and I are souls who have bodies, why not to grant little respect to lesser beings :)

[RSteyn]

>Very interesting what you wrote. Still in real life the synthetic component might be less pure than we assume - for example supposedly healthier margarine can be contaminated with toxic stuff left from the time of manufacturing. Real life business can cut the corners, people can cheat or make mistakes.
....

So I will take my clove as the nature made it, and yes I like to think that plants have souls. You and I are souls who have bodies, why not to grant little respect to lesser beings :)<

Instead I will suggest that you make the effort to get the straight scientific story, minus emotions.

Chemical analysis is something I know a bit about, and trust me, chemical purity is a business matter and whether something is 85 % pure or 99.99% pure Stuff As Claimed can be determined. It is not a matter of guesswork or wishful thinking, but a technical skill and craft.

>Also we do not know so much. There can be unknown chemical factors like the dynamic structure/structural memory or overlooked components. Science explained only a small fraction of the universe and significant part of it can be wrong.<

Much of what science believes is unlikely to ever unravel, only be refined. Belief that somehow, it might all be wrong is not a substitute for the best contemporary understanding.

There are a lot of things about genetics not fully understood, but I doubt if one day you will learn that DNA is nonsense, and that we are all the developed and matured result of the little homonculus in our father's sperm implanted in the genetically neutral incubator of our mother's wombs. More likely you will come to read about what 'junk' DNA actually does and about mechanisms of paternal mitochondrial DNA inclusion.