Date is a fruit with 421 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is 2-methylpentane. It pairs most strongly with walnut, sharing 59 flavor compounds. Date appears in 1,098 recipes, most commonly in indian 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), Date's inventory contains 63. Most of the other 358 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 51 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 Date's 421 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
350 of 421 are distinctive to date — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in date — 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 12 of Date's 421 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.
Date 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 Date side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
Polypropylene (PP) is widely used in microwavable food containers, but the simultaneous release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nanoplastics (NPs) during microwave heating... Read abstract →
Aging-induced deterioration in taste perception can result in loss of appetite and malnutrition in the elderly, posing a substantial challenge to healthy aging. In oral cavity, the... Read abstract →
AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to characterise the volatile compounds of Juniperus phoenicea L. essential oil, to evaluate its antibacterial and antifungal properties... Read abstract →
<i>Atractylodes macrocephala</i> Rhizoma. (AMR, called <i>Baizhu</i> in Chinese) is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for treating gastrointestinal disorders, such as diar... Read abstract →
The aroma profiles of oxidatively aged White and Tawny Port wines with increasing indication of age were studied to understand differences in their ageing processes. Thirty-one and... Read abstract →