Habanero
Savory & ferment· savory bridge

What it is
Habanero is a Capsicum chinense chile pepper that originated in the Amazon and is now closely associated with the Yucatán Peninsula.
What it tastes like
On the nose: fruity, apple, orange-rose, citrus. Among its measured molecules: 2-Ethylhexanoic acid, 3,4,4-Trimethylcyclohex-2-en-1-one, 3-Ethyl-4-methyl-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione, Hexyl 3-methylbutanoate, 2-Methyl-3-octanone.
What goes with it
- Sweet cherryboth carry acetone, fruitycite
- Nectarineboth carry 3-octanone, fruitycite
- Figboth carry acetone, fruitycite
Salt and acid
Salt
Salt not measured yet.
Acid
Acid not measured yet.
Unusual pairings
Pairs the library can cite that almost nobody makes.
- Habanero + Nectarine
both carry 3-octanone, fruity (11 of 338 carry it)
- Habanero + Burdock root
both carry 3-methylbutanal, apple (37 of 338 carry it)
- Habanero + Asian pear
both carry acetone, fruity (32 of 338 carry it)
45 of 51 compounds on file carry a paper the library can cite.
acetonearomaketonereads as fruity odor (PubChem)Measured in 17 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0158 in C. chinense (vs. 0.2485 in C. annuum), flagged 'down' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 10, column B (C. chinense))caprylic acidaromaacidreads as slight odor (PubChem)Measured in 21 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0049 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0209 in C. annuum), flagged 'down' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 30, column B (C. chinense))caprylaldehydearomaaldehydereads as strong, fruity odor (PubChem)Measured in 37 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0109 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0017 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 5, column B (C. chinense))methyl salicylatearomaesterreads as liquid having the characteristic odor of wintergreen (PubChem)Measured in 11 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0414 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0038 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 27, column B (C. chinense))hexanalaromaaldehydereads as sharp, aldehyde odor (PubChem)Measured in 85 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 2.5828 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0761 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 2, column B (C. chinense))1-pentanolaromaalcoholreads as mild odor (PubChem)Measured in 18 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.1110 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0152 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 20, column B (C. chinense))linaloolaromaalcoholreads as spicy, citrus taste (PubChem)Measured in 91 of 338 ingredients.cite
1.56 µg/mL in fresh, pre-fermentation habanero extract — López-Salas et al. 2022, Foods (Table 3, strain 'COM', row Time=0)1-hexanolaromaalcoholreads as fatty, fruity (PubChem)Measured in 48 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 1.3680 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0156 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 21, column B (C. chinense))2-Ethylhexanoic acidaromaacidreads as mild odor (PubChem)Measured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0340 in C. chinense (vs. 0.1168 in C. annuum), flagged 'down' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 29, column B (C. chinense))mequinolaromaphenolreads as odor of caramel and phenol (PubChem)Measured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0306 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0054 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 31, column B (C. chinense))6-methyl-5-hepten-2-onearomaketonereads as fruity taste (PubChem)Measured in 15 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.1538 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0117 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 14, column B (C. chinense))β-cyclocitralaromaterpenoidMeasured in 10 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0309 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0011 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 36, column B (C. chinense))3-methylbutanalaromaaldehydereads as apple-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 22 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0052 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0285 in C. annuum), flagged 'down' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 1, column B (C. chinense))1-penten-3-olaromaalcoholMeasured in 11 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 1.0939 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0217 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 19, column B (C. chinense))3-methylfuranaromafuranMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0028 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0139 in C. annuum), flagged 'down' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 32, column B (C. chinense))2-ethylfuranaromafuranMeasured in 4 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0240 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0030 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 33, column B (C. chinense))1-octen-3-olaromaalcoholMeasured in 35 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0223 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0019 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 23, column B (C. chinense))2-amylfuranaromafuranMeasured in 23 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0578 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0117 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 34, column B (C. chinense))limonenearomaterpenoidreads as pleasant lemon-like (PubChem)Measured in 91 of 338 ingredients.cite
1.01 µg/mL in fresh, pre-fermentation habanero extract — López-Salas et al. 2022, Foods (Table 3, strain 'COM', row Time=0)3,4,4-Trimethylcyclohex-2-en-1-onearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0418 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0028 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 15, column B (C. chinense))3-Ethyl-4-methyl-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dionearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0029 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0007 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 18, column B (C. chinense))nonanalaromaaldehydereads as orange-rose odor (PubChem)Measured in 59 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0163 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0059 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 6, column B (C. chinense))Hexyl 3-methylbutanoatearomaesterMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.73 µg/mL in fresh, pre-fermentation habanero extract — López-Salas et al. 2022, Foods (Table 3, strain 'COM', row Time=0)2-Methyl-3-octanonearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 1.1169 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0351 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 13, column B (C. chinense))Cyclohexene-1-carbonitrilearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0027 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0074 in C. annuum), flagged 'down' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 28, column B (C. chinense))dihydrocapsaicintastenitrogen compoundMeasured in 6 of 338 ingredients.cite
mean 0.56 mg/g across the C. chinense accession panel (range 0.00-10.09 mg/g) — Reddy et al. 2025, Horticulture Research (Table 1, Capsaicinoids block, row 'Dihydrocapsaicin', 'Mean' column)3-octanonearomaketonereads as mild fruity odor (PubChem)Measured in 6 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0318 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0037 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 11, column B (C. chinense))Isoamyl isobutyratearomaesterMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.04 µg/mL in fresh, pre-fermentation habanero extract — López-Salas et al. 2022, Foods (Table 3, strain 'COM', row Time=0)4,4,6-Trimethylcyclohex-2-en-1-olaromaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0032 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0009 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 24, column B (C. chinense))Methyl 2-ethyldecanoatearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0019 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0073 in C. annuum), flagged 'down' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 25, column B (C. chinense))capsaicintastenitrogen compoundreads as highly volatile with a pungent odor (PubChem)Measured in 6 of 338 ingredients.cite
mean 2.11 mg/g across the C. chinense accession panel (range 0.01-28.04 mg/g) — Reddy et al. 2025, Horticulture Research (Table 1 (Concentrations of capsaicinoids, carotenoids and flavor compounds in accessions of C. chinense used in the study), Capsaicinoids block, row 'Capsaicin', 'Mean' column)geranylacetonearomaketoneMeasured in 9 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0399 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0031 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 16, column B (C. chinense))2-HexenalaromaaldehydeMeasured in 31 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 6.2553 in C. chinense (vs. 0.1170 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' in spicy vs. non-spicy fruit — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1 (The details of 37 VOCs' significant difference in two pepper fruits), row 4, column B (C. chinense))trans-2-dodecenalaromaaldehydeMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0179 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0012 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 8, column B (C. chinense))trans-2-hexenolaromaalcoholMeasured in 17 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.4177 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0055 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 22, column B (C. chinense))Beta-Ionone epoxidearomaterpenoidMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.1235 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0065 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 17, column B (C. chinense))cis-3-Hexenyl hexanoatearomaesterMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
1.34 µg/mL in fresh, pre-fermentation habanero extract — López-Salas et al. 2022, Foods (Table 3, strain 'COM', row Time=0)(E)-3-Hepten-2-onearomaketoneMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.0276 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0061 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 12, column B (C. chinense))(E)-2-pentenalaromaaldehydeMeasured in 3 of 338 ingredients.cite
relative amount 0.1034 in C. chinense (vs. 0.0059 in C. annuum), flagged 'up' — Qiu et al. 2023, Plants (Table 1, row 3, column B (C. chinense))3,3-Dimethyl-1-hexanolaromaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
1.45 µg/mL in fresh, pre-fermentation habanero extract — López-Salas et al. 2022, Foods (Table 3, strain 'COM', row Time=0)4-Methylpentyl 3-methylbutanoatearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
mean 1017.57 ng/g across the C. chinense accession panel (range 5.01-8518.39 ng/g) — Reddy et al. 2025, Horticulture Research (Table 1, Flavor block, row '4-methylpenthyl 3-methylbutanoate', 'Mean' column)4-Methylpentyl 2-methylbutanoatearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
mean 282.767 ng/g across the C. chinense accession panel (range 0.03-886.1 ng/g) — Reddy et al. 2025, Horticulture Research (Table 1, Flavor block, row '4-methylpenthyl 2-methylbutanoate', 'Mean' column)4-Methylpentyl 4-methylpentanoatearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite
mean 5.30 ng/g across the C. chinense accession panel (range 0-61.376 ng/g) — Reddy et al. 2025, Horticulture Research (Table 1, Flavor block, row '4-Methylpentyl 4-methylpentanoate', 'Mean' column)
On file, no cited source yet ✳
These molecules are on record for it from the library's earlier sources. We are buying and requesting the papers; each one that lands moves its molecule up into the cited list.
- Capsianoside XIIIterpenoid
- Capsianoside XVterpenoid
- Capsianoside Jterpenoid
- POOCBLPVPJVZBI-ZZYKATELSA-Nterpenoid
- SFTJJXPNTXDKLC-ZGWSRUTPSA-Nterpenoid
- QFKLPFQSZQZZFP-MSMXOFMASA-Nterpenoid
Sources
- Qiu et al. 2023, Plants
- López-Salas et al. 2022, Foods
- Reddy et al. 2025, Horticulture Research