Fig is a fruit with 343 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is butanoic acid methyl ester. It pairs most strongly with dates, sharing 96 flavor compounds. Fig appears in 3,087 recipes, most commonly in creole 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), Fig's inventory contains 66. Most of the other 277 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 54 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 Fig's 343 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
79 of 343 are distinctive to fig — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in fig — 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.
Fig 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 Fig side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
Eco-friendly antimicrobial bio-composite films (BCF) were produced by using guar gum (GG), flax seed mucilage (FM) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), supplemented with cell-free supernat... Read abstract →
Discarded young fig fruits (DYFFs) are rich in polyphenols, polysaccharides, and other active substances, and fig polysaccharides (FPs) extracted from DYFFs using different methods... Read abstract →
The processing of dried figs in the industry involves a number of stages that present a significant risk of filamentous fungal infection of the fruit and subsequent mycotoxin conta... Read abstract →
BACKGROUND: Fleshy fruits evolved to be attractive to seed dispersers through various signals such as color and scent. Signals can evolve through different trajectories and have va... Read abstract →
Fruit flesh cell vacuoles play a pivotal role in fruit growth and quality formation. In the present study, intact vacuoles were carefully released and collected from protoplasts is... Read abstract →
