Shiitake is a fungus with 236 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is trans-4,5-epoxy-(e)-2-decenal. It pairs most strongly with mushroom, sharing 224 flavor compounds. Shiitake appears in 569 recipes, most commonly in korean 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), Shiitake's inventory contains 47. Most of the other 189 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 35 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 Shiitake's 236 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
18 of 236 are distinctive to shiitake — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in shiitake — 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.
Shiitake 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 Shiitake side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
Cultured meat needs edible bio-scaffolds that provide not only a growth milieu for muscle and adipose cells, but also biomimetic stiffness and tissue-sculpting topography. Current... Read abstract →
This study aims to develop scaffolds based on various mushrooms (Shiitake, Oyster, and Wood ear) for cultivated meat. After processing into microcarriers, their physical/chemical p... Read abstract →
This study investigated the dynamic changes in quality of yogurts containing Lentinula edode polysaccharide (LEP) and enzymatically hydrolyzed Lentinula edode polysaccharide (EH-LE... Read abstract →
IntroductionRosa roxbunghii pomace (RRP), a by-product of R. roxbunghii processing, remains largely underutilized. Given the increasing demand for sustainable and resource-efficien... Read abstract →
The impact of salt reduction and addition of Umami Ingredient, obtained from shiitake stipes, on the physicochemical and technological properties of beef burgers was evaluated. Sev... Read abstract →
