Barley is a cereal with 356 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is nonenal. It pairs most strongly with scotch spearmint, sharing 10 flavor compounds. Barley appears in 3,015 recipes, most commonly in world cuisine.
Compounds ranked by rarity — the higher the score, the more distinctive to this ingredient.
Of the ~226 molecules that drive perceived food aroma (Dunkel et al. 2014), Barley's inventory contains 71. Most of the other 285 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 59 more — showing top 12 by class and threshold.
Generalist = appears in >25% of foods (Maillard / fermentation products). Individualist = appears in <5% of foods (carries signature notes). Threshold values are in clean water — the actual perception threshold in a food matrix can differ substantially.
How Barley's 356 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
96 of 356 are distinctive to barley — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in barley — 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.
Ranked by median concentration across published studies. Only 2 of Barley's 356 compounds have a measured concentration in the literature — the rest are confirmed present but not yet quantified. Bars are log-scaled.
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.
Barley 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.
Compare Barley side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
Osmanthus fragrans has a pleasant aroma, and different varieties have different aromas and colors. This study systematically assessed how the inclusion of various Osmanthus fragran... Read abstract →
Acetobacter species are important in food fermentation. But, the properties and functional characteristics of many strains have not been fully known. This study identified a strain... Read abstract →
As the primary raw material for beer production, barley is classified into two-row barley and six-row barley. The nutrient content is different in the different row-types of malts,... Read abstract →
<h4>Summary</h4> Plants constantly emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can influence the physiology and behavior of neighboring plants. While the role of stress-induced VO... Read abstract →
Efficient conversion of starch to fermentable sugars and dextrins is essential during brewing as it drives process efficiency, resource efficiency, and the quality of the end produ... Read abstract →
