Sweetcorn is a maize with 39 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is 1-(4,5-dihydro-2-thiazolyl)-ethanone. It pairs most strongly with olive, sharing 16 flavor compounds. Sweetcorn appears in 349 recipes, most commonly in japanese 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), Sweetcorn's inventory contains 18. Most of the other 21 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 6 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 Sweetcorn's 39 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
17 of 39 are distinctive to sweetcorn — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in sweetcorn — 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.
Sweetcorn 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 Sweetcorn side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
Higher phytoglycogen in Su1-based sweetcorn kernels have created a niche market in Europe and Americas due to its distinct aroma, flavour and tenderness as well as plump and juicy... Read abstract →
Organic fertilizer substitution is an important agronomic strategy to improve waxy maize quality and aroma, while their regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, volatiles iden... Read abstract →
The Fall armyworm (FAW), <i>Spodoptera frugiperda</i> (J. E. Smith), is a highly destructive lepidopteran pest known for its extensive feeding on maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) and oth... Read abstract →
<i>Brassica</i> vegetables are bitter, predominantly because they contain bitter-tasting glucosinolates. Individuals with high bitter taste sensitivity are reported to have lower c... Read abstract →
In this study, physicochemical composition, nitrogen fractions and volatile compounds of goat cheeses manufactured using artisanal liquid coagulant by four different manufacturers... Read abstract →
