Flavor← the wheel
Brown butter
Sweet & rich· dairy
What it tastes like
On the nose: butter, creamy, caramel, almond. Among its measured molecules: 2(5H)-furanone, 2-tridecanone, δ-decalactone, δ-dodecalactone, 2-pentadecanone.
What goes with it
- Caramelboth carry dimethylhydroxy furanone, caramelcite
- Coffeeboth carry maltol, caramelcite
- Black garlicboth carry 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, caramel mustycite
Salt and acid
Salt
Salt not measured yet.
Acid
Acid not measured yet.
Every one of its 14 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.
furfuralaromafuranreads as almond-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 33 of 338 ingredients.cite
peak area 0.12-0.18 ×10⁷, detected in all three Holstein Friesian ghees and in none of the Deoni ghees — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 7, row 'Furfural', functional group HDP)2-undecanonearomaketonereads as strong odor (PubChem)Measured in 9 of 338 ingredients.cite
2.74-14.8 μg/g across all six ghees — the most abundant methyl ketone quantified — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 8, row '2-Undecanone')maltolaromaetherreads as fragrant, caramel-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 5 of 338 ingredients.cite
peak area 0.22-0.8 ×10⁷ in every one of the six ghees — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 7, row 'Maltol', functional group HDP)2(5H)-furanonearomalactoneMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
peak area 0.046-0.17 ×10⁷, detected only in the two Holstein Friesian cream-based ghees — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 7, row '2(5H)-Furanone', functional group HDP)2-tridecanonearomaketoneMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.381-1.21 μg/g across all six ghees — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 8, row '2-Tridecanone')δ-octalactonearomalactoneMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.129-1.3 μg/g across all six ghees, roughly four times higher in the Deoni breed than the Holstein Friesian — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 8, row 'Delta-octalactone')δ-decalactonearomalactoneMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
1.01-2.48 μg/g across all six ghees, significantly higher in the Deoni-breed curd-butter ghee — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 8, row 'delta-Decalactone')δ-dodecalactonearomalactonereads as creamy taste (PubChem)Measured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.765-2.27 μg/g across all six ghees — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 8, row 'delta-Dodecalactone')γ-dodecalactonearomalactoneMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.289-0.762 μg/g across all six ghees — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 8, row 'gamma-Dodecalactone')dimethylhydroxy furanonearomareads as caramel flavor (PubChem)Measured in 7 of 338 ingredients.cite
peak area 0.14-0.27 ×10⁷, detected only in the two Holstein Friesian ghees made from unfermented and fermented cream — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 7, row '2,5-Dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone', functional group HDP)2-pentadecanonearomaketoneMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.247-0.707 μg/g across all six ghees — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 8, row '2-Pentadecanone')2(3H)-furanonearomalactoneMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
peak area 0.056-0.2 ×10⁷ in five of the six ghees — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 7, row '2(3H)-Furanone', functional group HDP)5-hydroxymethylfurfuralaromaalcoholreads as butter, caramel, musty (PubChem)Measured in 11 of 338 ingredients.cite
peak area 0.038-0.86 ×10⁷ in five of the six ghees; not detected in the Deoni cream-butter ghee — Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 7 (Volatile compounds in ghee, as impacted by cow breeds and process), row '5-Hydroxymethylfurfural', functional group HDP)
Sources
- Kataria et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X