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Lemon
Citrus· citrus

What it is
Lemon is the citrus fruit of Citrus limon, believed to have originated in northeastern India.
What it tastes like
On the nose: citrus, lavender, floral, spicy. Among its measured molecules: alpha-bergamotene, neryl acetate, neral, α-thujene, geranial.
What goes with it
- Lavenderboth carry geranyl acetate, lavendercite
- Sichuan pepperboth carry geranyl acetate, lavendercite
- Pomeloboth carry geranial, lemoncite
Salt and acid
Salt
0 mgAsian pear10 mgCinnamon100 mgFennel seed1,000 mgOlive10,000 mgFish sauce
Sodium 1 mg per 100 g — USDA FoodData Central 167747.
Acid
0 %Apple2 %Cranberry4 %Apple cider vinegar6 %Balsamic vinegar8 %Makrut lime
Acid 5.146 % (g/100 mL) — USDA FoodData Central 167747.
Unusual pairings
Pairs the library can cite that almost nobody makes.
- Lemon + Turmeric
both carry alpha-terpineol, floral lilac (105 of 338 carry it)
- Lemon + Lavender
both carry geranyl acetate, lavender (46 of 338 carry it)
- Lemon + Bergamot orange
both carry geranyl acetate, lavender (46 of 338 carry it)
Every one of its 15 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.
linaloolaromaalcoholreads as spicy, citrus taste (PubChem)Measured in 91 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.2% of the oil; listed in the introduction among the pericarp oil's predominant compounds — Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants (Table 1, row 'linalool')alpha-pinenearomaterpenoidreads as odor of turpentine (PubChem)Measured in 71 of 338 ingredients.cite
γ‑terpinenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 44 of 338 ingredients.cite
10.3% of the oil; named in the abstract as one of three 'common constituents' — Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants (Table 1, row 'γ-terpinene')p-cymenearomaterpenoidreads as mild pleasant odor (PubChem)Measured in 42 of 338 ingredients.cite
beta-pinenearomaterpenoidreads as terpene odor (PubChem)Measured in 55 of 338 ingredients.cite
12.6% of the oil; named in the abstract as one of three 'common constituents' — Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants (Table 1, row 'β-pinene')alpha-terpineolaromaalcoholreads as floral, lilac (PubChem)Measured in 54 of 338 ingredients.cite
α-thujenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 19 of 338 ingredients.cite
sabinenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 32 of 338 ingredients.cite
2.4% of the oil; listed in the introduction among the pericarp oil's predominant compounds — Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants (Table 1, row 'sabinene')limonenearomaterpenoidreads as pleasant lemon-like (PubChem)Measured in 91 of 338 ingredients.cite
60.7% of the oil; the paper's Results call it 'the most abundant compound' — Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants (Table 1 (Chemical composition of Citrus limon green essential oil), row 'limonene')myrcenearomaterpenoidreads as pleasant (PubChem)Measured in 68 of 338 ingredients.cite
alpha-bergamotenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 8 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.6% of the oil; the most abundant sesquiterpene listed — Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants (Table 1, row 'α-trans-bergamotene')geranialaromaterpenoidreads as strong lemon odor (PubChem)Measured in 21 of 338 ingredients.cite
2.2% of the oil; the introduction lists 'geranial (E-citral)' among the pericarp oil's predominant compounds — Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants (Table 1, row 'geranial')neralaromaterpenoidMeasured in 18 of 338 ingredients.cite
1.2% of the oil; the introduction lists 'neral (Z-citral)' among the pericarp oil's predominant compounds — Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants (Table 1, row 'neral')neryl acetatearomaterpenoidMeasured in 12 of 338 ingredients.cite
geranyl acetatearomaterpenoidreads as odor of lavender (PubChem)Measured in 24 of 338 ingredients.cite
Sources
- Kačániová et al. 2024, Plants