2-methylfuran
caramel furanFound in 28 ingredients across the CompKitchen flavor graph.
Look up another compound — search by name, CAS number, PubChem CID, or FEMA #.
- Formula
- C5H6O
- Molecular weight
- 82.10 g/mol
- PubChem CID
- 10797 — full record on PubChem
Properties
- Odor description
- ethereal, acetone, chocolate, malty
- Odor threshold
- 3741.66 ppb
- Volatility
- high
- CAS number
- 534-22-5
- Retention index
- 595
FEMA GRAS — Generally Recognized As Safe for flavoring use
- FEMA number
- 4179
- GRAS publication
- GRAS 22
- FEMA primary name
- 2-Methylfuran
Reported use levels (ppm by food category)
Typical vs maximum reported addition levels in finished food. Use as a regulatory ceiling reference — verify against the current GRAS publication for your product category.
| Food category | Typical (ppm) | Maximum (ppm) |
|---|---|---|
| baked goods | 10 | 50 |
| breakfast cereal | 5 | 25 |
| cheese | 7 | 35 |
| condiments/ relishes | 5 | 25 |
| confectionery frostings | 10 | 50 |
| fats/oils | 5 | 25 |
| fish products | 2 | 10 |
| frozen dairy | 7 | 35 |
| fruit ices | 10 | 50 |
| gravies | 5 | 25 |
| jams/jellies | 7 | 35 |
| meat products | 20 | 100 |
| milk products | 7 | 35 |
| other grains | 5 | 25 |
| processed fruits | 7 | 35 |
| seasonings/ flavors | 5 | 25 |
| snack foods | 10 | 50 |
| soups | 5 | 25 |
How this molecule is described
Sources disagree about odour more often than they disagree about chemistry. Rather than show one answer, here is every description on file with how many ingredient records carry it.
Ordered by how many independent descriptor streams give each wording, then by how often it appears. The bar is still replication — one source copied onto many ingredients scores high there — so the two can disagree.
Bars are the share of ingredient records carrying each description. High agreement means the sources replicate each other — not necessarily that they are right.
Where you'd actually smell it
Odor Activity Value = measured concentration ÷ odor threshold (3741.66 ppb). OAV ≥ 1 = perceptible.
| Food | Concentration (ppb) | OAV | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| coffee | 531.0 | 0.14 | PMID 17687706 |
Concentrations from PubMed Central Open Access papers (free literature corpus, MIT-style licensed). Copper = OAV ≥ 10 (strongly perceptible). Green = OAV ≥ 1 (perceptible).
Found in
Measured impact first, then profile shareEvery ingredient known to contain 2-methylfuran. 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-methylfuran in it. Full concentrations are in the OAV table above.
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