Yuzu is a citrus fruit with 27 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is 4-methyl-4-mercaptopentan-2-one. It pairs most strongly with sake, sharing 7 flavor compounds. Yuzu appears in 42 recipes, most commonly in sriracha 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), Yuzu's inventory contains 11. Most of the other 16 compounds are below detection 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 Yuzu's 27 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.
14 of 27 are distinctive to yuzu — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.
Ordered by measured impact in yuzu — 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.
Yuzu 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 Yuzu 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 investigates the impact of foliar spraying with different concentrations of nano‑selenium (0, 10, 15, 20, 25 mg/L) on the nutritional value, antioxidant capacity, and vo... Read abstract →
The essential oil of <i>Torreya nucifera</i>, a coniferous tree native to East Asia, has notable bioactive properties with potential industrial applications. This study examined th... Read abstract →
Nano-carriers and dried gels were prepared to prevent the inherent flavor of Yuja (<i>Citrus junos</i> Tanaka) from rapidly deteriorating. The properties and stability of volatile... Read abstract →
This study investigated the antistress effects of yuzu synthetic fragrances by employing three experiments on humans and mice using two yuzu synthetic fragrances and five single co... Read abstract →
This study investigated the effects of essential oil odors from Japanese citrus fruits, iyokan (Citrus iyo) and yuzu (Citrus junos), on human psychology and both the autonomic and... Read abstract →
