Aroma molecule · ester
2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate
Smells ofsweet, fruity, apple, raspberry, green
Found in 1 ingredient. We hold no measured concentration for it in any of them yet, so we cannot say where it is strong enough to smell.
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- Formula
- —
- Mass
- 158.24 g/mol
- CAS
- 589-59-3
- PubChem
- —
- FEMA
- not listed
- Threshold · air
- 5.2 ppb
- Class
- ester
- Status
- Aroma-active
01How little it takes
- in waterpapers disagree 34
- in a foodpapers disagree 1,400
ppb, log scale · tick = median of published values, bar = full range, from open-access paper tables (not reviewed)
02Where it turns up
- Fruit1
of the 1 ingredient that contain it, by food group
03What it travels with
Too few ingredients to say what it travels with.
What does 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate smell like?
Sources describe it as sweet, fruity, apple, raspberry, green, banana.
Which foods contain 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate?
We list 1 ingredient that contain it, but presence is not the same as smell. What matters is how much is there compared with how little it takes to notice it. That ratio is the odour activity value (OAV): above 1, you can smell it.
Found in
Measured foods first, then real food profiles, then thin or composite records (marked). The figure beside each is how many compounds that ingredient has in total, not the amount of 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate in it. ✓n = sources that recorded the link.
How strong is 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate?
In air: 5.2 ppb, from 1 published value.
Published thresholds
1 measured value from the literature, grouped by what was measured: a threshold smelled in clean water, tasted, or measured in a real food are different quantities and are not pooled.
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.2 ppb | air | Nagata 2003 | — |
Only values we can attribute are listed. Where a compendium’s licence does not permit public attribution its figures are omitted, so every number here traces to a citable source.
Thresholds in published tables
| Medium | Median | Range | Values | Papers | Papers agree? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| air | 19.6 µg/L air | 5.2–34 | 2 | 1 | one paper |
| food matrix | 1400 ppb | 1.4e+03–1.4e+03 | 1 | 1 | one paper |
| unstated | 34 ppb | 5.2–34 | 7 | 7 | yes |
| water | 34 ppb | 34–34 | 1 | 1 | one paper |
Numbers printed in open-access papers, grouped by the medium the table states. Median and full range; “agree” means two or more papers whose middle 80% of values sit within 100×. Not reviewed.
Is 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate safe to eat?
Not in FEMA GRAS publications 1–33. Of 3,367 listed flavoring substances, none match this compound or its other names. It may still be food-safe under other regulatory routes (FDA 21 CFR 172, EFSA, JECFA); check femaflavor.org for the authoritative current list.
2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate questions
What does 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate smell like?
Sources describe 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate as sweet, fruity, apple, raspberry and green.
Which foods contain 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate?
We list 1 ingredient that contain 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate.
How strong is 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate?
The median of 1 published odour thresholds in air is 5.2 ppb.
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Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). 2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate compound data sheet. https://compkitchen.com/compound/2-methylpropyl%203-methylbutanoate. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compound_2_methylpropyl_3_methylbutanoate_compound_data_sheet_2026,
title = {2-methylpropyl 3-methylbutanoate compound data sheet},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compound/2-methylpropyl%203-methylbutanoate},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.