Aroma molecule
4-methylpentanoate
Smells offruity, sweet, honey, apple, pear
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.
Working on a formulation or a product line? This compound data is available by API for R&D teams.
01How little it takes
- in water 73.8
- in a food 5
- retronasal / in-mouth 0.1
- other matrix 21.2
ppb, log scale · tick = median of published values, bar = full range
02Where it turns up
- Drinks1
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 4-methylpentanoate smell like?
Sources describe it as fruity, sweet, honey, apple, pear. The key-food-odorant survey gives fruity, waxy.
It is a key food odorant (intermediary): identified in the meta-analysis of 227 food samples as one of 57 intermediary odorants, which appear in 5–25% of foods. Source: Dunkel et al. 2014, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 53, 7124–7143
Which foods contain 4-methylpentanoate?
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 4-methylpentanoate in it. ✓n = sources that recorded the link.
Measured concentrations
| Food | Concentration (ppb) | OAV | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| butter | 2,000.0 | 702 | Corpus paper |
| pineapple | 9.7 | 3.40 | PMID 30569201 |
OAV = measured concentration ÷ odour threshold (2.85 ppb, the engine’s working value — see the 6 published values). OAV ≥ 1 = perceptible. Concentrations from open-access papers; a row whose food is not one of the ingredients above is listed here but not placed on the ruler.
How strong is 4-methylpentanoate?
Orthonasal, in clean water: 0.700 ppb to 147 ppb, median 73.8 ppb, from 2 published values.
Published thresholds
6 measured values 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.700 ppb SIDA | water | Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies | — |
| 147 ppb SIDA | water/ethanol 6:4 (food: american bourbon whisky) | Literature corpus | 30779560, 18570373, 15826061 +22 |
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 ppb SIDA | water (food: goat milk) | Literature corpus | 30779560, 18570373, 15826061 +22 |
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.100 ppb SIDA | water_retronasal | Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies | — |
| Threshold | Matrix | Source | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.5 ppb SIDA | wine matrix (12% ethanol) (food: red wine) | Literature corpus | 30779560, 18570373, 15826061 +22 |
| 38.0 ppb SIDA | starch | Rychlik 1998 · 1 studies | — |
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.
Is 4-methylpentanoate safe to eat?
A substance matching this name is listed by FEMA as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use as a flavoring: FEMA number 4343, published in GRAS 23. Check current FDA and EFSA guidance for your market and use level.
- FEMA number
- 4343 ? partial match
- Publication
- GRAS 23
- FEMA name
- Ethyl 4-methylpentanoate
| Food category | Typical | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| beverages (nonalcoholic) | 5 | 50 |
Typical vs maximum reported addition levels in finished food. A regulatory ceiling reference; verify against the current GRAS publication for your product category.
Source: FEMA GRAS publications 1–33. 1 related FEMA record for this name; verify the exact substance for regulatory use.
4-methylpentanoate questions
What does 4-methylpentanoate smell like?
Sources describe 4-methylpentanoate as fruity, sweet, honey, apple and pear. It is one of the key food odorants identified by Dunkel et al. (2014).
Which foods contain 4-methylpentanoate?
We list 1 ingredient that contain 4-methylpentanoate.
How strong is 4-methylpentanoate?
The median of 2 published odour thresholds in water is 73.8 ppb (range 0.700 to 147 ppb).
Look up another compound — search by name, CAS number, PubChem CID, or FEMA #.
Get a molecule-level pairing breakdown each week — which ingredients share a compound, and why it matters at the table. Free, no spam.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Try the pairing tools to see which ingredient combinations rely on 4-methylpentanoate, or compare two ingredients side by side.
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). 4-methylpentanoate compound data sheet. https://compkitchen.com/compound/4-methylpentanoate. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compound_4_methylpentanoate_compound_data_sheet_2026,
title = {4-methylpentanoate compound data sheet},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compound/4-methylpentanoate},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.