See it in action
Why do strawberries and pineapple taste like the same fruit?
Strawberry and pineapple share an unexpectedly large set of esters — the chemical family responsible for “sweet ripe fruit.” Three of them dominate both profiles.
Ethyl butanoate
the prototypical “tropical fruit” ester
OAV in grape (≈ same range in strawberry & pineapple)
Threshold: ~1 ppb · Aroma: pineapple, strawberry, ripe
Ethyl 2-methylbutanoate
the high-impact green-apple/strawberry ester
OAV in both fruits
Threshold: 0.1 ppb · Aroma: apple, strawberry, sweet
Furaneol
the caramel-strawberry molecule (HDMF)
OAV in strawberry
Also in pineapple, roasted coffee, soy sauce
When two fruits share three potent esters, your nose can’t fully separate them. This is why strawberry-pineapple smoothies feel coherent and why pineapple often reads as “sweeter strawberry” in blind tasting.
Unlock the OAV numbers
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.