Bonito is a fish with 66 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is 1,2,3-trimethoxybenzene. It pairs most strongly with kombu, sharing 10 flavor compounds. Bonito appears in 49 recipes, most commonly in japanese 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), Bonito's inventory contains 20. Most of the other 46 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 8 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 Bonito's 66 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
46 of 66 are distinctive to bonito — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in bonito — 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 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.
Bonito 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 Bonito side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) modulate flavor formation in fermented bonito using an integrat... Read abstract →
This study aimed to unravel the flavor enhancement mechanisms during dried bonito processing by focusing on five critical stages. Taste characteristics, key volatile compounds, and... Read abstract →
This study investigated the effects of the inoculation of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs), including Staphylococcus carnosus, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Bacillus coag... Read abstract →
The existing in vitro and clinical trial evidence supports the health and wellness benefits of collagen peptides sourced from various origins. Despite this, research on collagen pe... Read abstract →
The increasing use of reclaimed wastewater in agriculture raises growing concerns about the accumulation of priority organic micropollutants in edible crops. In this study, we deve... Read abstract →