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Library
Compounds
- Piperine
Piperine is the substance that gives black pepper its pungent taste. It occurs in black pepper (Piper nigrum) and long pepper (Piper longum) fruits. Black pepper is used as a spice and preservative in food, and as a fragrance raw material in perfumery. The extract has a strong pungent taste.…
Last reviewed: 10 September 2026 - Capsaicinoids
Capsaicinoids are the group of substances that give hot pepper (Capsicum) its pungency. The main members are capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, and nordihydrocapsaicin. Food manufacturers buy pepper extract for pungency, color, and aroma. Supplement, cosmetic, and feed manufacturers also use it, each…
Last reviewed: 9 September 2026 - Anethole
Anethole is the molecule of anise smell and anise taste. It is the main constituent of star anise, aniseed and fennel oils. The international standard for star anise oil asks for between 86 and 93 percent anethole. The oil smells sweet and liquorice-like. The taste is sweet. Anethole hardly…
Last reviewed: 12 October 2026 - Tocopherols
Tocopherol is the natural antioxidant of vegetable oils: it delays rancidity, and is used up while doing so,. It comes in four forms: alpha, beta, gamma and delta. Alpha is the form that counts as vitamin E. In protecting oil, alpha stands out at low doses, gamma and delta at high doses and at…
Last reviewed: 9 October 2026 - Phenylethyl alcohol
Phenylethyl alcohol (2-phenylethanol, INCI name phenethyl alcohol) is a volatile alcohol that provides the honeyed and sweet body note of rose. Its proportion varies by rose product. Solvent-extracted rose absolute (dewaxed rose extract) contained 78.4%, while in distilled rose oil the main…
Last reviewed: 29 September 2026 - Squalene
Squalene is a natural lipid substance found in olive, amaranth, and shark liver oil. It is an intermediate product of cholesterol synthesis in the body. It is also the main component of unsaturated lipids in human skin surface sebum. Its name comes from the shark genus (Squalus). It was first…
Last reviewed: 9 September 2026 - Gingerol
Gingerol is the substance that gives ginger its pungent taste. It is found in the underground stem (rhizome) of ginger. It has several close analogues. The most abundant is 6-gingerol, followed by 8-gingerol and 10-gingerol,. When ginger is dried or heated, part of the gingerol converts into…
Last reviewed: 21 September 2026 - Linalool
Linalool is a volatile alcohol providing the floral scent of lavender, bergamot, and many other plants. Together with its ester linalyl acetate, it forms the major fraction of lavender essential oil. In bergamot peel oil, the same pair accompanies limonene. Food manufacturers purchase it as a…
Last reviewed: 25 September 2026 - Zingiberene
Zingiberene is the main sesquiterpene in ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizome essential oil. It averaged 21.0% in 17 fresh Indian cultivars, reaching 29.9% in the highest cultivar. Ginger aroma does not come from a single molecule. A taste panel linked ginger character to two zingiberene…
Last reviewed: 29 September 2026 - 1,8-Cineole
1,8-Cineole (also called eucalyptol, referred to as cineole on this page) is a terpene measured between 15% and 44% in cardamom oil,. Its scent is fresh and camphoric. This is the characteristic scent of eucalyptus oil. It is not alone in cardamom. Sweet-smelling alpha-terpinyl acetate…
Last reviewed: 1 October 2026 - Limonene
Limonene is the main component of citrus peel oils. It is the carrier terpene of orange scent (terpenes are the volatile scent family of plants). About 95% of sweet orange oil is limonene. Food manufacturers buy it as a flavor. Cosmetic and perfume manufacturers buy it as a fragrance. Limonene…
Last reviewed: 25 September 2026 - Punicic acid
Punicic acid is the dominant fatty acid of pomegranate seed oil. It is found in the seed of the pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum). Because its double bonds are consecutive, it is considered "conjugated" and acts differently from fatty acids in standard vegetable oils. It is also known as…
Last reviewed: 22 September 2026 - Vanillin
Vanillin is the compound that gives vanilla its aroma. It is considered the most widely used flavor molecule globally. It occurs in the cured fruit of the vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia). Yet less than 1% of the vanillin consumed worldwide comes from vanilla. Vanillin has also been produced…
Last reviewed: 22 September 2026 - Carnosic acid
Carnosic acid is the primary oil-soluble phenolic compound of rosemary leaf. Together with carnosol, it accounts for over 90% of the antioxidant activity of rosemary extract,. Food producers buy rosemary extract to delay lipid oxidation in oils, meats, and frying fats,. In the market, it is…
Last reviewed: 24 September 2026 - Alpha-Phellandrene
Alpha-phellandrene is a main constituent of pink pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) fruit oil (a terpene, volatile fragrance family). It made up 13% to 34% of the oil in two measurements,. Pink pepper is not true pepper. It is the dried fruit of a tree related to cashew and pistachio,. Its oil…
Last reviewed: 28 September 2026 - Glabridin
Glabridin is one of the main lipid-soluble plant constituents of licorice root. It belongs to the isoflavan chemical family and was identified in 1976. Glycyrrhizin, the water-soluble and sweet constituent of the root, is a different substance. Both come from the same plant, but they do not…
Last reviewed: 24 September 2026 - Myrcene
Myrcene (beta-myrcene) is a terpene making up 5 to 20% of juniper berry oil. The main component of the oil is alpha-pinene. It dominates hop oil and is one of the strongest aroma compounds of hops. Its scent is described as geranium-like. Food and beverage producers buy it as juniper aroma.…
Last reviewed: 28 September 2026 - Menthol
Menthol is the molecule that gives peppermint oil its cooling sensation. The peppermint (Mentha × piperita) oil standard requires a menthol content between 32 and 49%. The cooling effect is not actual cooling. Menthol stimulates cold-sensing nerve endings. In 18 participants who inhaled it,…
Last reviewed: 7 October 2026 - Alpha-Pinene
Alpha-pinene is one of the most common terpenes in oils of pine and related trees. Terpenes form essential oils of plants. In Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) needle oil, its level varies by tree type. It was measured at 7 to 33% in dry plants in Lithuania,. In Spain, it reached near 70%. In…
Last reviewed: 8 October 2026