Valencia

Records

Registered smell evidence

• Valencia · Fresh Bread: the claim says “artisanal bakeries in Valencia, Spain” (scientific evidence, CLM-BREAD-002).
  Claim: Most breads from a set of artisanal bakeries in Valencia, Spain, contained over 50 volatile compounds in crumb and crust samples, including aldehydes, alcohols, acids and furans, compared with fewer than 20 in a control industrial bread, where ketones dominated; whole flours (such as spelt, durum wheat or T80) and the leavening agent affected the abundance of certain volatiles, particularly in the crust.
  Source: Gemma Sanmartín, Isabel Elena Sánchez-Adriá, Ana Salvador, Jose A. Prieto, Francisco Estruch & Francisca Randez-Gil (2024). Quantitative Assessment of Volatile Profile and Sensory Perception of Artisan Bread Made in the City of Valencia. Foods. doi:10.3390/foods13233872

A smell is linked to a locality or tradition only when a VERIFIED claim, resting on a registered scientific or historical source, names that place or tradition in its own words. How a place or festival is commonly said to smell is cultural description, not evidence, and is not shown as a link.

Open research questions

1. Valencia · Historical and archival record. Which smells of Valencia's streets, markets, orchards and port are described in historical records, travel writing or archives, and from which periods?
   Survey result: Not answered. The survey searched scientific literature only; this question needs historical archives, libraries and travel writing.
2. Valencia · Sensory or smellscape study. Has the present-day smellscape of Valencia, or of any of its districts, been documented in a published sensory or smellwalk study?
   Survey result: No smellscape or smellwalk study of Valencia was found. One odour study of a wastewater treatment plant at an unnamed seaside tourist area in the Valencian Community was found; the abstract does not place it in the city, so it is not linked.
3. Valencia · Aroma chemistry. Which foods or plants produced in or around Valencia have registered studies of their aroma compounds that name the place of origin?
   Survey result: Partly answered: a study of breads from artisanal bakeries in the city was registered (CLM-BREAD-002) and linked to Fresh Bread. Many studies of “Valencia” oranges were also found; there the name is a cultivar, not the place, so they are not linked. Studies of other Valencian Community products (Bobal grape juice, Valencia rice, tiger nuts, Lake Albufera sediments) appeared, but none measured a smell of the city, so none is linked.
4. Fallas of Valencia · Historical and archival record. How have the smells of the Fallas, including the burning of the monuments and the fireworks, been described in historical or press archives?
   Survey result: Not answered. The survey searched scientific literature only; this question needs press and historical archives.
5. Fallas of Valencia · Sensory or smellscape study. Has any published study recorded how residents or visitors perceive and describe the smells of the Fallas?
   Survey result: No study of how the Fallas are perceived by smell was found.
6. Fallas of Valencia · Aroma chemistry. Which volatile compounds are released when the Fallas monuments burn or the festival's fireworks are fired, according to measurements made during the festival?
   Survey result: No measurement of volatile compounds made during the Fallas was found.

Survey: 20 searches of Europe PMC on 2026-10-03; raw results kept unedited in SmellBook's internal records. Each search kept its top 8 results (by citations or by date); a study ranked lower may have been missed, so “not found” means not among the results inspected.

Worksheet for recording a checked source: https://smellbook.com/data/worksheets/heritage-agenda.csv