MOLECULE
Named in 1 VERIFIED claim about 1 Atlas entry: Onion.
Linked to the odour · the claim says “the potent onion odorant”
A stable isotope dilution assay found the potent onion odorant 3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol at 8–32 µg/kg in raw onions and at much higher levels in sliced, stored and then cooked onions, which suggests it forms from precursors produced enzymatically when raw onions are cut.
Scope: One potent odorant measured in onions of different origins; it is not a complete account of onion aroma. CLM-ONION-001 ↗
HABNNYNSJFKZFE-UHFFFAOYSA-NChecked against PubChem and Wikidata on 2026-10-03 (identifier check run 37117518739). Every name SmellBook uses must resolve to the same single PubChem compound.
SmellBook lists a molecule only where a VERIFIED claim names it, in the role and scope that claim states. A molecule reported in a smell's evidence is not the whole smell: most smells come from many compounds together, and the studies measured particular samples, such as one cultivar, an essential oil or a cooked product.
Permanent identifier smellbook:molecule:3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol · Graph record (JSON)
Cite as SmellBook. (2026). 3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol (molecule). SmellBook knowledge graph, Strategy Phase 389. smellbook:molecule:3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol. https://smellbook.com/molecules/3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol
Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since Strategy Phase 389.