Soybean is a legume with 520 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is 2-methyl-3-(methyldisulfanyl)furan. It pairs most strongly with gochujang, sharing 28 flavor compounds. Soybean appears in 185 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), Soybean's inventory contains 102. Most of the other 418 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 90 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 Soybean's 520 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
240 of 520 are distinctive to soybean — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in soybean — 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 7 of Soybean's 520 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.
Soybean 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 Soybean side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
To investigate differences in volatile compound production among Staphylococcus species during soybean fermentation, Staphylococcus equorum, S. succinus, and S. xylosus isolated fr... Read abstract →
As a traditional fermented soybean product in China, douchi is rich in diversity and varies from place to place. Because of the significance in food culture, the douchi from Sichua... Read abstract →
This study aimed to prepare oregano essential oil microcapsules (EOMs) by the active coalescence method using gelatin and sodium alginate as wall materials and oregano essential oi... Read abstract →
This study examined the physicochemical properties, flavor, and quality characteristics of tofu made from three Korean soybean cultivars (Daewonkong, Seonpung, Seonyu2ho) grown in... Read abstract →
Soybeans are an important plant-based food but its beany flavor and anti-nutritional factors limit its consumption. Fermentation is an effective way to improve its flavor and nutri... Read abstract →
