the library

Rice vinegar

Savory & ferment· ferment vinegar

What it is

Rice vinegar is vinegar made by fermenting rice, first into a mild alcohol and then into vinegar with vinegar-forming bacteria.

What it tastes like

On the nose: acid, smokey, pear, apple. Among its measured molecules: 4-ethylphenol, ethyl benzoate, 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, diethyl succinate, guaiacol.

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

• acetic acidtasteacidreads as sour, burningMeasured in 37 of 341 ingredients.cite

  6,119,026.91 ± 530,020.51 µg/L -- roughly ten times the next-largest compound in the same sample and column — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4 (Content information of vinegar compounds (μg/L)), row 19 (identified in Table 2 as 'acetic acid'), column 'B4')
• benzaldehydearomaaldehydereads as burning aromatic taste (PubChem)Measured in 57 of 341 ingredients.cite

  7281.14 ± 0.96 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 14 (Table 2: 'benzaldehyde'), column 'B4')
• guaiacolaromaphenolreads as aromatic (PubChem)Measured in 15 of 341 ingredients.cite

  593.83 ± 117.46 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 32 (Table 2: 'guaiacol'), column 'B4')
• phenylacetaldehydearomaaldehydeMeasured in 23 of 341 ingredients.cite

  23,161.05 ± 76.12 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 15 (Table 2: 'phenylethanal'), column 'B4')
• phenylethyl alcoholaromaalcoholreads as sharp burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 42 of 341 ingredients.cite

  565,184.73 ± 42,979.58 µg/L -- essentially tied with ethyl acetate for the second-largest compound in this sample — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 28 (Table 2: 'phenethyl alcohol'), column 'B4')
• ethyl benzoatearomaesterMeasured in 6 of 341 ingredients.cite

  2766.54 ± 4.32 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 8 (Table 2: 'ethyl benzoate'), column 'B4')
• furfuralaromafuranreads as almond (PubChem)Measured in 34 of 341 ingredients.cite

  514.31 ± 4.86 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 36 (Table 2: 'furfural'), column 'B4')
• 2-methylbutyric acidtasteacidMeasured in 4 of 341 ingredients.cite

  9544.95 ± 925.82 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 23 (Table 2: '2-methylbutyric acid'), column 'B4')
• ethyl acetatearomaesterreads as fragrant (PubChem)Measured in 43 of 341 ingredients.cite

  571,951.58 ± 3619.70 µg/L -- the largest ester and second-largest compound overall in this sample — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 1 (Table 2: 'ethyl acetate'), column 'B4')
• 3-methylbutanalaromaaldehydereads as apple (PubChem)Measured in 23 of 341 ingredients.cite

  35,396.43 ± 20.06 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 12 (Table 2: '3-methylbutyraldehyde'), column 'B4')
• 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazinearomapyrazineMeasured in 7 of 341 ingredients.cite

  53,390.76 ± 5265.10 µg/L -- the third-largest compound in the whole 52-compound table for this sample, and a classic Maillard/roasted-grain marker — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 46 (Table 2: '2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine'), column 'B4')
• 4-ethylphenolaromaphenolreads as sweet smokey (PubChem)Measured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  14.55 ± 0.59 µg/L -- the smallest compound in this profile, kept because it is a phenol and this brief specifically asks for phenolic representation — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 35 (Table 2: '4-ethylphenol'), column 'B4')
• diethyl succinatearomaesterMeasured in 8 of 341 ingredients.cite

  1881.49 ± 200.04 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 9 (Table 2: 'diethyl succinate'), column 'B4')
• isoamyl alcoholaromaalcoholMeasured in 46 of 341 ingredients.cite

  13,010.93 ± 167.42 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 26 (Table 2: '3-methyl-1-butanol'), column 'B4')
• isoamyl acetatearomaesterreads as pear (PubChem)Measured in 26 of 341 ingredients.cite

  22,149.40 ± 183.22 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 5 (Table 2: 'isoamyl acetate'), column 'B4')