the library

Kimchi

Savory & ferment· ferment vinegar

Every one of its 15 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

• acetic acidaromaacidreads as pungent (PubChem)Measured in 35 of 338 ingredients.cite

  the acid class grows from 1 species at 2.34% on day 1 to 4 species at 6.33% on day 10, peaking at 9.05% on day 7 — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 2 (Types and content of volatile flavor compounds), row 'Acids')
• caprylaldehydearomaaldehydereads as strong, fruity odor (PubChem)Measured in 37 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.51% on day 1 falling to 0.1, 0.2, 0.13, 0.09 and 0.09% — the one aldehyde that survives to the end of the ferment at a measurable level — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'n-Octanal')
• methanethiolaromasulfur compoundMeasured in 10 of 338 ingredients.cite

  5.06% on day 1 and 8.26% on day 3, then 5.06, 0.91, 0.14 and 0.08% — one of the largest peaks of the young ferment and effectively absent from the finished one — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Methanethiol')
• hexanalaromaaldehydereads as sharp, aldehyde odor (PubChem)Measured in 85 of 338 ingredients.cite

  the aldehyde class falls from 16 species at 18.43% on day 1 to 13 species at 8.02% on day 10 — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 2, row 'Aldehydes')
• heptanalaromaaldehydereads as fatty taste (PubChem)Measured in 33 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.56% on day 1 falling to 0.08, 0.15, 0.04 and 0.05%, then undetected on day 10 — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Heptanal')
• 1,3-dithianearomaMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.09% on day 1 climbing steadily through 0.11, 0.21, 0.35, 0.51 to 0.65% on day 10 — small, but one of only two compounds in the table that never falls — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row '1,3-Dithiane')
• diallyl sulfidearomasulfur compoundreads as garlic (PubChem)Measured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.29% on day 1, 0.25% on day 3 and 0.47% on day 5; not detected from day 7 — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Diallyl sulfide')
• dimethyl disulfidearomasulfur compoundreads as sulfurous (PubChem)Measured in 9 of 338 ingredients.cite

  4.45% on day 1 rising to 9.18% on day 5 and holding 7.78% on day 10 — the largest sulfur compound across the whole fermentation — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Dimethyl disulfide')
• Allyl mercaptanaromasulfur compoundMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.02% on day 1 rising to 0.05, 0.07 and 0.19% by day 7, then undetected — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Allyl mercaptan')
• methyl propyl disulfidearomasulfur compoundMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.03% on day 1, 0.14% on day 3 and 0.11% on day 5; not detected thereafter — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Methyl propyl disulfide')
• phenethyl isothiocyanatearomasulfur compoundMeasured in 3 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.04% on day 1, 0.06% on days 3 and 5, then undetected — the only isothiocyanate in the table, and the only compound that identifies the substrate as a brassica — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row '2-Phenylethyl isothiocyanate')
• dimethyl trisulfidearomasulfur compoundMeasured in 12 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.25% on day 1 jumping to 4.81% on day 3 and 4.3% on day 5, then falling back to 2.45% by day 10 — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Dimethyl trisulfide')
• myrcenearomaterpenoidreads as pleasant (PubChem)Measured in 68 of 338 ingredients.cite

  1.33% on day 1 and 0.89% on day 10, holding between 0.72 and 1.03% throughout — a terpene from the spice side of the jar rather than the cabbage, and the most stable compound in the table — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Myrcene')
• allyl methyl disulfidearomasulfur compoundMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.09% on day 1 climbing monotonically to 0.6, 1.25, 2.02, 4.56 and 6.7% by day 10 — the steepest single rise in the table, and the mirror image of methanethiol's collapse over the same days — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Allyl methyl disulfide')
• allyl methyl sulfidearomasulfur compoundMeasured in 1 of 338 ingredients.cite

  0.37% on day 1, 0.61% on day 3 and 2.18% on day 5, then not detected from day 7 onward — Luo et al. 2025, Food Science & Nutrition (Table 3, row 'Methyl allyl sulfide')