Printed from smellbook.com/smells/tomato-sauce. This printout keeps the entry for Tomato Sauce itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
A warm cooked tomato smell with savory, acidic, herbal and sweet associations.
Tomato sauce smells warm, savoury and slightly acidic, with a cooked sweetness that deepens the longer it simmers. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
This entry links to
Other entries that link to this one
Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it, molecules and related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT TOMATO SAUCE
Tomato sauce smells warm, savoury and slightly acidic, with a cooked sweetness that deepens the longer it simmers. Garlic, onion and herbs often join it, adding warmth and a green edge. The scent is rounded and comforting, sharper at the start of cooking and softer, richer and slightly caramelised as it thickens.
It is met in kitchens during pasta dinners, in pizza shops and family restaurants, and in pots simmering on a stove. Many people link it with home cooking and with shared meals at the end of the day.
Typical settings: kitchen, pasta, cooking pot.
SmellBook links it to one place page: see it in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: How processing changes tomato aroma. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
The scientific study behind this evidence is chemistry or emission work, not a study of how the smell is perceived.
8 molecules are named in this claim; see the evidence for the role the claim gives them. Each molecule this claim names has only the role the claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell. Where a molecule is listed as a reported volatile, the claim does not say it shapes the smell.
Tomato Sauce is a prepared-food state distinct from the green smell of Tomato Leaf.
Words that are easy to mix up: Is every warm smell spicy?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
How processing changes tomato aroma
Compared with fresh tomatoes, tomato paste had (Z)-3-hexenal and hexanal more than 400 times lower and β-damascenone several-fold higher, and the compounds judged most important to its aroma included dimethyl sulfide, β-damascenone, β-ionone, 3-methylbutanal, methional and eugenol.
Tomato paste, judged from concentrations and odour thresholds; sauces add other ingredients.
How this was found: Odour activity estimate. Compounds were measured and compared with known odour thresholds; nobody smelled this sample to confirm it. Source: primary study; chemistry work.
Ron G. Buttery, Roy Teranishi, Louisa C. Ling & Jean G. Turnbaugh
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
DOI 10.1021/jf00091a074Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. Each molecule named here has only the role the claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
MY SMELLBOOK · LOCAL ONLY
These controls save only in this browser. Nothing here is uploaded to a SmellBook account or server.
Personal tags stay in this browser and do not change the entry's own smell words.
MAP THIS SMELL
Follow the related smells our editors recorded, or use Smell Between to compare this smell with any other, field by field.
WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
These links were chosen by editors to help you explore; they are not scores or rankings.
FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Tomato Sauce.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
A state says how an entry is met, such as wet, aged or roasted. It does not create a new smell, and it adds no scientific fact by itself: states marked EDITORIAL come from the entry's own records, and only those marked VERIFIED are reported by a VERIFIED claim.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0133 — Tomato Saucesmellbook:smell:tomato-saucehttps://smellbook.com/smells/tomato-sauceSmellBook. (2026). Tomato Sauce (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:tomato-sauce. https://smellbook.com/smells/tomato-sauce@misc{smellbook_tomato_sauce_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Tomato Sauce},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:tomato-sauce},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/tomato-sauce}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-tomato-sauce-r3 TI - Tomato Sauce AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 3 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/tomato-sauce N1 - SB-0133; smellbook:smell:tomato-sauce; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/tomato-sauce ER -
The citation names revision 3 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Tomato Sauce is a prepared-food state distinct from the green smell of Tomato Leaf.
Other entries whose editors linked to Tomato Sauce:
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30.
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗