Where are nitrate esters found?

Question

are they in flavoring agents, detergents, food preservatives, or explosives???

Answer 1

They are most commonly found in explosives.  The nitrate group contains a lot of oxygen.  The fairly electronegative nitrogen can be reduced easily, oxidizing the carbon and hydrogen in the ester and releasing energy.  The products formed are gases - N2, CO or CO2, and H2 or H2O - so the products also expand rapidly, resulting in an explosion.

Nitroglycerin is an example of a nitrate ester.

Food preservatives do often use inorganic nitrates (or nitrates), and flavoring agents are often esters, but as far as I know, nitrate esters are not used for either.