Tarragon is a herb with 271 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is nerolidol. It pairs most strongly with chervil, sharing 206 flavor compounds. Tarragon appears in 4,446 recipes, most commonly in european 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), Tarragon's inventory contains 54. Most of the other 217 compounds are below detection threshold.
+ 42 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 Tarragon's 271 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
46 of 271 are distinctive to tarragon — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in tarragon — 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.
Tarragon 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 Tarragon side-by-side
Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
This study presents the comparative and preliminary phytochemical analysis of essential oils extracted from 5 different <i>Ocimum</i> species, including <i>Ocimum basilicum</i> Lin... Read abstract →
<i>Artemisia dracunculus</i>/(tarragon) is a perennial plant used in traditional medicine and the food industry. The plant is known to have beneficial effects on health, such as an... Read abstract →
Medicinal and aromatic plants have attracted attention recently for their essential oil content. This study aims to compare, for the first time, essential oil of Artemisia dracuncu... Read abstract →
The aim of the present work was the selection of aromatic plant essential oils (EOs) and/or ethanolic extracts (EEs) to prevent the late blowing defect (LBD) of cheese caused by Cl... Read abstract →
Oregano and tarragon are widely cultivated culinary herbs used for food seasoning, having familiar characteristic aromas appreciated by the wide public. The aim of this research wa... Read abstract →
