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2-ethyl-4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2h)-furanone

caramel furan Key food odorant

Found in 381 ingredients across the CompKitchen flavor graph.

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2D Lewis structure of 2-ethyl-4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2h)-furanone
2D Lewis Structure
Formula
C7H10O3
Molecular weight
142.15 g/mol
PubChem CID
33931 — full record on PubChem

Key food odorant (intermediary)

Dunkel et al. 2014

Identified in the meta-analysis of 227 food samples as one of 57 intermediary odorants — appears in 5–25% of foods.

Source: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 7124–7143

Properties

Odor description
butterscotch, candy, caramel, sweet
Odor threshold
43.0 ppb
Volatility
high
CAS number
27538-10-9
Not in FEMA GRAS publications 1-33. Of 3,367 listed flavoring substances, none match this compound name. May still be food-safe under other regulatory routes (FDA 21 CFR 172, EFSA, JECFA) — check femaflavor.org for the authoritative current list.

Found in

Measured impact first, then profile share

Every ingredient known to contain 2-ethyl-4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2h)-furanone. Ingredients with a measured concentration come first, ranked by odour activity; the rest follow by how large a share of that ingredient's profile this molecule is. The figure beside each is how many different compounds that ingredient has in total — not the concentration of 2-ethyl-4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2h)-furanone in it.

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