Nutmeg is a spice with 303 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is nerolidol. It pairs most strongly with cinnamon, sharing 261 flavor compounds. Nutmeg appears in 41,285 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), Nutmeg's inventory contains 51. Most of the other 252 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 39 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 Nutmeg's 303 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
61 of 303 are distinctive to nutmeg — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in nutmeg — 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.
Nutmeg 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 Nutmeg side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
Metschnikowia pulcherrima has been studied and applied in winemaking in recent years, but its application in icewine fermentation has rarely been reported. In this study, the toler... Read abstract →
Nutmeg (<i>Myristica fragrans</i> Houtt.) is widely used for aromatic and medicinal properties, yet adulteration with related species, namely <i>M. argentea</i> compromises quality... Read abstract →
The present study comprises the second part of our previous work that dealt mainly with the phytochemical and physicochemical characterization of green coffee, clove, cinnamon/clov... Read abstract →
Numerous case reports of intoxications with nutmeg seeds (Myristica fragrans, Houtt.) can be found in literature often following their abuse, as psychotropic effects were described... Read abstract →
The present study was aimed to develop Manihot esculenta and Carrageenan bio-based composite active film functionalized with anise, caraway, and nutmeg essential oils (EOs) and to... Read abstract →
