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Allium

Allium is a plant with 223 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is trisulfide dipropyl. It pairs most strongly with alpinia. Allium appears in 63 recipes, most commonly in Indonesian cuisine.

Scientific name: Allium
genus of flowering plants
Allium — ingredient reference image
223
Flavor Compounds
8
Top Pairings of 856 scored

Flavor Science

Flavor Profile Breakdown

223 compounds

How Allium's 223 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.

other 36 · 16.1%
sour 33 · 14.8%
savory 24 · 10.8%
floral 23 · 10.3%
sulfurous 19 · 8.5%
green 17 · 7.6%
roasted 17 · 7.6%
herbal 16 · 7.2%
fruity 16 · 7.2%
spicy 7 · 3.1%

Most Used In

Flavor Compounds

43 of 223 are distinctive to allium — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.

Ordered by measured impact in allium — concentration against odour threshold where both are published, then by how distinctive the molecule is across the graph. Molecules measured here but not established as odorants sit below those that are.

Molecules volatile enough to reach the nose.
trisulfide dipropyl allyl methyl trisulfide cis-linalool oxide methyl allyl disulfide dimethyl sulphide trans-linalool oxide diallyl trisulfide diallyl sulfide diallyl disulfide methyl propyl disulfide dipropyl disulfide 1-propanethiol dimethyl tetrasulfide hotrienol menthol 2-propanol allyl methyl disulfide carvacrol dimethyl trisulfide thymol 2-undecanone 4-hydroxybenzoic acid linalool dimethyl disulfide 3-(methylthio)propanal 2-methyl-1-butanol methanethiol coumarin 3-methylbutanal 2-methylbutyraldehyde +100 more nervonic acid lutein isorhamnetin squalene genistein quercetin luteolin myricetin zeaxanthin aconitic acid stigmasterol inosine guanosine apigenin adenosine l-isoleucine kaempferol pantothenic acid folic acid l-leucine cholesterol maltose lotaustralin rebaudioside a inosinic acid l-glutamine l-cystine sucrose l-threonine l-tyrosine 1-allyl-2-isopropyldisulfane 2-(propylthio)ethylamine allyl trisulfides dipropyl thiosulfonate disulfide, 1-(1-propenylthio) propyl propyl dithiins ethylthioacetone methyl allyl trisulfide propylthiol tetrasulfide dipropyl trisulfide methyl propyl 4-(1',2',4'-trihydroxy-2',6',6'-trimethylcyclohexyl)but-3-en-2-one allyl polysulfides methyl (methylthiomethyl) disulfide caffeine α-tocopherol retinol alkyl-substituted pyridines alkylthio-substituted pyridines allyl methyl sulphide bis-methylthiomethyl disulfide s-methylcysteine sulfoxide 1-(prop-1-en-1-yl)-2-propyldisulfane 1-(prop-1-en-1-yl)-3-propyltrisulfane disulfide, methyl 1-(methylthio) propyl hypoxanthine creatine chlorophyll b choline chlorophyll a

Best Pairings for Allium

Ranked by how often cooks actually use them together, across 453,403 recipes — the familiar answer first. Each pairing still carries its molecular score and shared-compound count; only the ORDER differs. Counts cover every characterised molecule the two ingredients have in common, not only the aroma-active ones, so they can exceed an ingredient’s aroma-compound count. For the chemistry-first view — where the surprising pairings live — see the molecular network below, the side-by-side comparison, or the Pairing Tool.

Molecular Neighborhood

Allium and its 10 closest compound-sharing relatives. Spoke thickness = shared compounds; circle size = that ingredient's own compound count. Drag to rearrange, scroll to zoom, click to open.

Molecular neighborhood diagram of allium — top 10 ingredients ranked by shared volatile compounds

Recipes with Allium

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Research basis

Allium is supported by 1,277 peer-reviewed papers

Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.