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ethanoic acid

dairy acid Key food odorant

Found in 1 ingredient across the CompKitchen flavor graph.

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

Key food odorant (generalist)

Dunkel et al. 2014

Identified in the meta-analysis of 227 food samples as one of 16 generalist odorants — appears in >25% of foods, typically from generic Maillard, lipid-oxidation, or fermentation pathways. Characteristic odor: vinegar-like.

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

Properties

Odor threshold — orthonasal, in clean water
36000 ppb 1 published value · see all 43 with sources
CAS number
64-19-7
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

43 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

36000 ppb

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

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
36000 ppb SIDA water Rychlik 1998 · 2 studies —

In a food matrix

0.520 ppb – 1450 ppb

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

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
0.520 ppb water (food: lime) Literature corpus 30972045
1.8 ppb SIDA water (food: soy sauce) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
2.7 ppb water (food: rice) Literature corpus 15675786, 26973621, 28580014 +4
4.5 ppb SIDA water (food: onion) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
5.0 ppb water (food: pork) Literature corpus 39085314
5.1 ppb water (food: coffee) Literature corpus 38480775
6.8 ppb water (food: tea) Literature corpus 31861730, 36323840, 37188725 +3
8.5 ppb water (food: pepper) Literature corpus 34716586, 40060959
12.7 ppb SIDA water (food: baijiu) Literature corpus 32625638, 35513386
14.2 ppb SIDA water (food: truffle) Literature corpus 32625638, 36737983
15.0 ppb SIDA water (food: garlic) Literature corpus 32625638, 35558794
19.3 ppb SIDA water (food: unknown) Literature corpus 32625638, 18570373, 33714268 +26
20.5 ppb water (food: milk) Literature corpus 10552650, 39479676
23.0 ppb water (food: fish) Literature corpus 24594176, 36144849, 37003052
60.0 ppb water (food: lamb) Literature corpus 22789457
90.0 ppb water (food: beef) Literature corpus 28911457
153 ppb water (food: peanut) Literature corpus 41103313
737 ppb SIDA water (food: cocoa) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
749 ppb SIDA water (food: bread) Literature corpus 30779560, 28274420, 28490062 +2
1450 ppb SIDA water (food: olive oil) Literature corpus 18570373, 28671107
22000 ppb SIDA water (food: japanese soy sauce) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 530× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
22000 ppb SIDA water (food: maillard model (glucose + proline)) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 530× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
22000 ppb SIDA water (food: maillard products) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 530× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
22000 ppb SIDA water (food: maillard model) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 530× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
99000 ppb SIDA water (food: reference standard (water)) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 2386× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
180000 ppb SIDA water (food: beef vegetable gravy) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 4337× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
180000 ppb SIDA water (food: pork vegetable gravy) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 4337× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
489370 ppb water (food: wine) Literature corpus 32397426, 32619948, 32630090 +1
Flagged: 11792× 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

378 ppb – 22000 ppb

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

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
378 ppb SIDA oil_retronasal Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —
22000 ppb water_flavor Leffingwell —
22000 ppb SIDA water_retronasal Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —

In air

6.0 ppb

Airborne detection — not comparable to a water threshold.

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
6.0 ppb air Nagata 2003 —
6.0 ppb SIDA air (food: reference standard (air)) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65

Other matrix

124 ppb – 135 ppb

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

Threshold Matrix Source Paper
124 ppb SIDA oil_orthonasal Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —
124 ppb SIDA oil (sunflower oil) (food: gouda cheese) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
124 ppb SIDA oil (sunflower oil) (food: cocoa beans) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
124 ppb SIDA oil (sunflower oil) (food: cocoa powder) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
135 ppb SIDA oil (oil) (food: hungarian-type salami) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
31140 ppb SIDA starch Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies —
Flagged: 231× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
41000 ppb SIDA wine matrix (12% ethanol) (food: rum / red wine) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 304× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
75521 ppb SIDA ethanol/water 40/60 (food: rum (aged)) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 559× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.
76000 ppb SIDA ethanol/water (food: rum / red wine) Literature corpus 30779560, 32625638, 18570373 +65
Flagged: 563× from the median of this group. Excluded from the range above pending re-check against the source publication — shown rather than hidden.

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 ethanoic 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 ethanoic acid in it.

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