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3-methylbutyric acid

dairy acid

Found in 3 ingredients across the CompKitchen flavor graph.

Look up another compound — search by name, CAS number, PubChem CID, or FEMA #.

Properties

Odor threshold — orthonasal, in clean water
410 ppb – 700 ppb median 555 ppb · 2 published values · see all 25 with sources
CAS number
503-74-2
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.

Published thresholds

25 measured values from the literature. Grouped by what was actually measured — a threshold smelled in clean water, tasted in the mouth, or measured in a real food are three different quantities and are not pooled.

Orthonasal, in clean water

410 ppb – 700 ppb

The reference measurement — smelled in water. OAV is computed against this.

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
410 ppb water_odor Leffingwell —
700 ppb SIDA water Rychlik 1998 · 5 studies —

In a food matrix

12.0 ppb – 1200 ppb

Measured in a real food, where the matrix shifts detection — not a clean-water value.

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
1.5 ppb water (food: wine) Literature corpus 36496598
Flagged: 163× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
12.0 ppb water (food: goat milk) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
39.0 ppb water (food: tea) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
65.8 ppb water (food: unknown) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +2
100 ppb water (food: litsea pungens fruit) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
250 ppb water (food: longjing green tea infusion) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
490 ppb water (food: reference standard (water)) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
848 ppb water (food: bread) Literature corpus 41613919
1200 ppb water (food: japanese soy sauce) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
1200 ppb water (food: beef vegetable gravy) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
1200 ppb water (food: pork vegetable gravy) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4

Retronasal / in-mouth

26.0 ppb – 750 ppb

Tasted rather than smelled — a different sense, not comparable.

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
26.0 ppb SIDA oil_retronasal Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —
750 ppb SIDA water_retronasal Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —

In air

0.078 ppb

Airborne detection — not comparable to a water threshold.

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
0.078 ppb air Nagata 2003 —

Other matrix

6.0 ppb – 250 ppb

Measured in a non-aqueous medium (oil, starch, cellulose).

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
6.0 ppb SIDA starch Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —
22.0 ppb SIDA oil_orthonasal Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —
22.0 ppb oil (sunflower oil) (food: gouda cheese) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
22.0 ppb oil (sunflower oil) (food: cocoa beans) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
22.0 ppb oil (sunflower oil) (food: cocoa powder) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
78.0 ppb ethanol/water (food: rum / red wine) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
78.0 ppb ethanol/water 40/60 (food: rum (aged)) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
120 ppb wine matrix (12% ethanol) (food: rum / red wine) Literature corpus 19753606, 28331124, 36337648 +4
250 ppb SIDA cellulose Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —

Only values we can attribute are listed. Where a compendium's licence does not permit public attribution its figures are omitted here, so every number on this page traces to a citable source.

Found in

Measured impact first, then profile share

Every ingredient known to contain 3-methylbutyric acid. 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 3-methylbutyric acid in it.

sake
beverage alcoholic
320 cmpds
arabica coffee
beverage caffeinated
344 cmpds
orange
fruit
472 cmpds
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