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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, orange-rose. Among its measured molecules: octyl formate, heptyl alcohol, trans-2-decenal, 2,4-decadienal, 2-Nonenal.
What goes with it
- Sweet cornboth carry heptyl alcoholcite
- Roasted duckboth carry heptanal, fattycite
- Almondboth carry heptyl alcoholcite
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.
caprylaldehydearomaaldehydereads as strong, fruity odor (PubChem)Measured in 37 of 338 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 21 of 338 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 odor (PubChem)Measured in 85 of 338 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 8 of 338 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 33 of 338 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 odor (PubChem)Measured in 36 of 338 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 338 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 35 of 338 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 odor (PubChem)Measured in 59 of 338 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 23 of 338 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 20 of 338 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 338 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 338 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.
Sources
- Hu et al. 2025, Food Chemistry: X(facts-only licence)