decanal
green aldehyde Key food odorantFound in 128 ingredients across the CompKitchen flavor graph.
Look up another compound — search by name, CAS number, PubChem CID, or FEMA #.
- Formula
- C10H20O
- Molecular weight
- 156.26 g/mol
- PubChem CID
- 8175 — full record on PubChem
Key food odorant (individualist)
Dunkel et al. 2014Identified in the meta-analysis of 227 food samples as one of 151 individualist odorants — appears in <5% of foods, carries the diagnostic signature of specific ingredients. Characteristic odor: citrus, soapy.
Properties
- Odor description
- soap, orange peel, tallow
- Odor threshold — orthonasal, in clean water
- 0.900 ppb – 1.1 ppb median 0.975 ppb · 2 published values · see all 27 with sources
- Volatility
- medium
- CAS number
- 112-31-2
- Retention index
- 1206
FEMA GRAS — Generally Recognized As Safe for flavoring use
- FEMA number
- 4364
- GRAS publication
- GRAS 23
- FEMA primary name
- Decanal propyleneglycol acetal
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 |
| beverages (nonalcoholic) | 1 | 10 |
| breakfast cereal | 1 | 30 |
| cheese | 1 | 30 |
| chewing gum | 10 | 50 |
| condiments/ relishes | 0.2 | 40 |
| confectionery frostings | 0.2 | 40 |
| egg products | 1 | 30 |
| fats/oils | 1 | 100 |
| fish products | 0.2 | 40 |
| frozen dairy | 0.2 | 40 |
| fruit ices | 2 | 40 |
| gelatins/ puddings | 0.2 | 40 |
| gravies | 1 | 30 |
| hard candy | 1 | 100 |
| imitation dairy | 1 | 30 |
| meat products | 0.2 | 40 |
| milk products | 2 | 30 |
| nut products | 1 | 30 |
| other grains | 1 | 30 |
| poultry | 1 | 30 |
| seasonings/ flavors | 1 | 100 |
| snack foods | 1 | 30 |
| soft candy | 1 | 100 |
| soups | 0.2 | 40 |
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.
Published thresholds
27 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
0.900 ppb – 1.1 ppbThe reference measurement — smelled in water. OAV is computed against this.
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.900 ppb SIDA | water | Rychlik 1998 · 5 studies | — |
| 1.1 ppb | water_odor | Leffingwell | — |
In a food matrix
0.100 ppb – 80.0 ppbMeasured in a real food, where the matrix shifts detection — not a clean-water value.
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.100 ppb | water (food: hand-squeezed grapefruit juice) | Literature corpus | — |
| 0.100 ppb | water (food: goat milk) | Literature corpus | — |
| 0.190 ppb | water (food: lemon) | Literature corpus | — |
| 0.550 ppb | water (food: lime) | Literature corpus | — |
| 0.790 ppb | water (food: melon) | Literature corpus | — |
| 1.2 ppb | water (food: apple) | Literature corpus | — |
| 1.2 ppb | water (food: rice) | Literature corpus | — |
| 1.4 ppb | water (food: chocolate) | Literature corpus | — |
| 2.2 ppb | water (food: orange) | Literature corpus | — |
| 3.0 ppb | water (food: orange juice (reconstituted from concentrate)) | Literature corpus | — |
| 3.3 ppb | water (food: grape) | Literature corpus | — |
| 6.0 ppb | water (food: fish) | Literature corpus | — |
| 11.5 ppb | water (food: milk) | Literature corpus | — |
| 40.0 ppb | water (food: unknown) | Literature corpus | — |
| 57.0 ppb | water (food: honey) | Literature corpus | — |
| 80.0 ppb | water (food: soy sauce) | Literature corpus | — |
| 609 ppb | water (food: tea) | Literature corpus | — |
| Flagged: 185× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden. | |||
| 610 ppb | water (food: ginger) | Literature corpus | — |
| Flagged: 185× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden. | |||
| 1186 ppb | water (food: tomato) | Literature corpus | — |
| Flagged: 359× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden. | |||
| 1205 ppb | water (food: bread) | Literature corpus | — |
| Flagged: 365× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden. | |||
| 1207 ppb | water (food: beef) | Literature corpus | — |
| Flagged: 366× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden. | |||
Retronasal / in-mouth
7.0 ppb – 850 ppbTasted rather than smelled — a different sense, not comparable.
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.0 ppb | water_flavor | Leffingwell | — |
| 850 ppb SIDA | oil_retronasal | Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies | — |
In air
0.400 ppbAirborne detection — not comparable to a water threshold.
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.400 ppb | air | Nagata 2003 | — |
Other matrix
6700 ppbMeasured in a non-aqueous medium (oil, starch, cellulose).
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6700 ppb SIDA | oil_orthonasal | 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 shareEvery ingredient known to contain decanal. 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 decanal in it.
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