Aroma molecule · aldehyde
3-methylbenzaldehyde
Smells ofcherry, sweet, fruity, almond
Found in 9 ingredients. 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
- C8H8O
- Mass
- 120.15 g/mol
- CAS
- 620-23-5
- PubChem
- 12105
- FEMA
- not listed
- Threshold
- —
- Class
- aldehyde
- Status
- Aroma-active
01How little it takes
No published odour threshold on file for 3-methylbenzaldehyde.
02Where it turns up
- Drinks4
- Fruit1
- Vegetables1
- Grains, nuts & fats1
- Other2
of the 9 ingredients that contain it, by food group
03What it travels with
line weight = ingredients carrying both, of 9 · only molecules found with it at least 1.5× as often as across all foods
What does 3-methylbenzaldehyde smell like?
Sources describe it as cherry, sweet, fruity, almond.
How this molecule is described
- sweet, fruity, cherry, benzaldehyde, phenolic FlavorDB 2.0
- benzaldehyde, cherry, fruity, phenolic, sweet FlavorDB 2.0
- cherry, sweet, fruity, almond shown above Llm Adjudicated
Ordered by how many independent descriptor streams give each wording, then by how often it appears. The bar is replication (one source copied onto many ingredients scores high), not corroboration.
Which foods contain 3-methylbenzaldehyde?
We list 9 ingredients 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 3-methylbenzaldehyde in it. ✓n = sources that recorded the link.
How strong is 3-methylbenzaldehyde?
We hold no published odour threshold for 3-methylbenzaldehyde, so we cannot say how little of it you could smell.
Thresholds in published tables
| Medium | Median | Range | Values | Papers | Papers agree? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unstated | 0.6 ppb | 0.6–0.6 | 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.
- Volatility
- high
- Retention index
- 540
What is it found with?
Of the 9 ingredients that carry 3-methylbenzaldehyde, 9 also carry benzyl benzoate, 9 indole and 9 phenylacetaldehyde. These are the most frequent companions among molecules that turn up with 3-methylbenzaldehyde at least 1.5 times as often as they do across all foods; the very common molecules found nearly everywhere are left out because they say nothing about it.
Is 3-methylbenzaldehyde 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.
See all 9 ingredients with Pro
The free page shows the first 8. The inverted compound index is a Pro feature: reverse-search any of 5,139 flavor molecules across the full graph.
3-methylbenzaldehyde questions
What does 3-methylbenzaldehyde smell like?
Sources describe 3-methylbenzaldehyde as cherry, sweet, fruity and almond.
Which foods contain 3-methylbenzaldehyde?
We list 9 ingredients that contain 3-methylbenzaldehyde.
What molecules are found with 3-methylbenzaldehyde?
The molecules most often found in the same ingredients are benzyl benzoate, indole, phenylacetaldehyde and phytol.
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Try the pairing tools to see which ingredient combinations rely on 3-methylbenzaldehyde, or compare two ingredients side by side.
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). 3-methylbenzaldehyde compound data sheet. https://compkitchen.com/compound/3-methylbenzaldehyde. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compound_3_methylbenzaldehyde_compound_data_sheet_2026,
title = {3-methylbenzaldehyde compound data sheet},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compound/3-methylbenzaldehyde},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.