the library

Duck fat

Savory & ferment· savory bridge

What it is

Duck fat is the rendered fat of duck, used in cooking and to fat-wash spirits.

What it tastes like

On the nose: fatty, citrus, fruity, orange-rose. Among its measured molecules: octyl formate, trans-2-decenal, heptyl alcohol, 2,4-decadienal, 2-Nonenal.

Every one of its 14 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

• octanalaromaaldehydereads as fruity (PubChem)Measured in 40 of 341 ingredients.cite

  163.09 ± 24.03 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 239.97 ± 116.96 with the xylose glaze and 206.51 ± 59.82 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.17 μg/L. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 3 'Octanal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• phenylacetaldehydearomaaldehydeMeasured in 23 of 341 ingredients.cite

  71.09 ± 23.68 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 93.65 ± 23.19 with the xylose glaze and 78.93 ± 23.93 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.00072 μg/L — among the three lowest thresholds in the whole table, and the one Strecker aldehyde of any size, so the clearest evidence that the glaze reacts with the meat rather than merely caramelising. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 5 '2-Phenylacetaldehyde')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• hexanalaromaaldehydereads as sharp, aldehyde (PubChem)Measured in 87 of 341 ingredients.cite

  343.93 ± 46.46 ng/g of the traditionally glazed roast duck skin, 433.06 ± 85.82 with the xylose glaze and 399.79 ± 99.71 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.23 μg/L. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 1 'Hexanal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• heptyl alcoholaromaalcoholreads as fragrant (PubChem)Measured in 9 of 341 ingredients.cite

  16.1 ± 4.08 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 24.03 ± 13.99 with the xylose glaze and 16.91 ± 5.8 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.023 μg/L. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, alcohol 5 'Heptanol')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• heptanalaromaaldehydereads as fatty taste (PubChem)Measured in 34 of 341 ingredients.cite

  88 ± 11.34 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 132.74 ± 44.85 with the xylose glaze and 100.99 ± 25.24 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.26 μg/L. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 2 'Heptanal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• decanalaromaaldehydereads as citrus (PubChem)Measured in 37 of 341 ingredients.cite

  6.89 ± 2.85 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 11.5 ± 6.95 with the xylose glaze and 6.11 ± 2.85 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.0026 μg/L. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 9 'Decanal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• octyl formatearomaesterMeasured in 1 of 341 ingredients.cite

  14.22 ± 5.97 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 28.21 ± 23.44 with the xylose glaze and 15.37 ± 7.93 with the nanoemulsion. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, ester 6 'Octyl formate')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• 1-octen-3-olaromaalcoholMeasured in 38 of 341 ingredients.cite

  56.52 ± 20.01 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 67.14 ± 18.77 with the xylose glaze and 65.06 ± 20.38 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.0027 μg/L — the largest alcohol in all three. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, alcohol 6 '1-Octen-3-ol')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• nonanalaromaaldehydereads as orange-rose (PubChem)Measured in 62 of 341 ingredients.cite

  369.32 ± 67.83 ng/g of the traditionally glazed roast duck skin, 549.74 ± 208.17 with the xylose glaze and 380.39 ± 106.04 with the xylose nanoemulsion — the largest single volatile in all three, against a threshold in air of 0.0031 μg/L. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1 (The identification, quantification, thresholds, RI and odor descriptors of aroma compounds in Beijing roast duck skin using HS-SPME-GC–MS), aldehyde 7 'Nonanal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• 2-OctenalaromaaldehydeMeasured in 26 of 341 ingredients.cite

  31.93 ± 3.84 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 50.97 ± 19.5 with the xylose glaze and 29.65 ± 7.31 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.0027 μg/L. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 6 '(E)-2-Octenal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• 2-NonenalaromaaldehydeMeasured in 22 of 341 ingredients.cite

  11.48 ± 5.39 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 21.33 ± 14.92 with the xylose glaze and 8.84 ± 3.7 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.00009 μg/L — the LOWEST threshold of any compound quantified here, an order of magnitude below the next. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 8 '(E)-2-Nonenal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• trans-2-decenalaromaaldehydeMeasured in 8 of 341 ingredients.cite

  19.3 ± 15.41 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 36.76 ± 29.96 with the xylose glaze and 13.93 ± 8.36 with the nanoemulsion, against a threshold in air of 0.0027 μg/L. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 10 '(E)-2-Decenal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• 2,4-decadienalaromaaldehydeMeasured in 12 of 341 ingredients.cite

  12.45 ± 1.44 ng/g of the traditionally glazed skin, 22.45 ± 8.81 with the xylose glaze and 10.1 ± 2.39 with the nanoemulsion. — Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X (Table 1, aldehyde 13 '2,4-Decadienal')Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.