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Clary Sage

Clary Sage is an essential oil with 47 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is nerolidyl acetate. It pairs most strongly with citrus peel oil, sharing 14 flavor compounds.

Scientific name: Salvia sclarea
species of plant
Wikidata Q157872 (CC0)
Clary Sage — ingredient reference image
47
Flavor Compounds
8
Top Pairings of 856 scored

Flavor Science

Flavor Profile Breakdown

47 compounds

How Clary Sage's 47 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.

floral 12 · 25.5%
fruity 10 · 21.3%
green 10 · 21.3%
herbal 6 · 12.8%
other 1 · 2.1%
woody 1 · 2.1%
minty 1 · 2.1%
caramel 1 · 2.1%
roasted 1 · 2.1%
citrus 1 · 2.1%

Flavor Compounds

16 of 47 are distinctive to clary sage — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.

Ordered by measured impact in clary sage — 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.
linalyl formate hotrienol beta-ionone neryl acetate isoborneol nerol 2-(4-methylphenyl)propan-2-ol eucalyptol linalyl acetate alpha-pinene myrcene ethyl formate pentanal methyl salicylate 3-octanone hexyl acetate 2-pentylfuran alpha-terpineol 4-methyl-2-pentanone linalool beta-pinene 1-nonanol nonanal methyl acetate 1-octanol 3-methylbutanal 2-methylbutyraldehyde isobutyraldehyde geraniol acetaldehyde +10 more nerolidyl acetate sclareolide sclareol sclareol oxide alpha-terpinyl acetate isopropanol linaloyl oxide

Best Pairings for Clary Sage

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

Clary Sage 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 clary sage — top 10 ingredients ranked by shared volatile compounds
1
Citrus Peel Oil essential oil
14 shared compounds
42%
2
Neroli Oil essential oil
11 shared compounds
41%
3
Citrus Fruits fruit citrus
15 shared compounds
41%
4
Apricot fruit
29 shared compounds
38%
5
Lima Beans legume
23 shared compounds
35%
6
Ricotta Cheese dairy
7 shared compounds
35%
7
Honey plant derivative
29 shared compounds
34%
8
Jasmine flower
6 shared compounds
34%

Compare Clary Sage side-by-side

Clary Sage vs Citrus Peel Oil Clary Sage vs Neroli Oil Clary Sage vs Citrus Fruits Clary Sage vs Apricot Clary Sage vs Lima Beans Clary Sage vs Ricotta Cheese
Research basis

Clary Sage is supported by 135 peer-reviewed papers

Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
Show all 135 papers →