Why does a fresh apple smell like lavender?
Bite into an apple and the floral, almost soapy lift you catch isn't imagination — it's a terpenoid more associated with perfumery than orchards, present at concentrations that dwarf most of the fruit's other volatiles.
Apple's identity as a 'fruity' smell is partly a trick of context: its dominant volatile is a floral terpenoid that perfumers reach for when building lavender or bergamot accords. Strip the esters away and what remains reads closer to a flower shop than a fruit bowl.
See exactly how far over the detection threshold each compound is — the part of the chemistry that explains why this pairing works. Plus the full ranked list for any ingredient, compound index, and Compare tool.
OAV (Odor Activity Value) = concentration ÷ detection threshold. Numbers above 1 mean the compound contributes detectably to aroma.