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MOLECULE

δ-decalactone

Named in 2 VERIFIED claims about 3 Atlas entries: Butter, Cardboard, Wet Cardboard.

Where the evidence names it

Butter

Key odorant · the claim says “the key odorants of sour cream butter”

A review of aroma studies reports that sweet cream butter is characterised by lactones and sulfur compounds, while the key odorants of sour cream butter are diacetyl, butanoic acid and δ-decalactone, formed mainly by lactic acid bacteria.

Scope: Key odorants differ between sweet cream, sour cream and heated butter and butter oil. CLM-BUTTER-001 ↗

Cardboard

Key odorant · the claim says “among the most intense”

Aroma extract dilution analysis detected 36 odour-active compounds in cardboard, with vanillin, (E)-2-nonenal, γ-nonalactone, 2-methoxyphenol and δ-decalactone among the most intense, and moistening the cardboard released them extensively.

Scope: Cardboard samples analysed in one study; cardboard varies with its fibres, recycling and storage. CLM-CARDBOARD-001 ↗

Wet Cardboard

Key odorant · the claim says “among the most intense”

Aroma extract dilution analysis detected 36 odour-active compounds in cardboard, with vanillin, (E)-2-nonenal, γ-nonalactone, 2-methoxyphenol and δ-decalactone among the most intense, and moistening the cardboard released them extensively.

Scope: Cardboard samples analysed in one study; cardboard varies with its fibres, recycling and storage. CLM-CARDBOARD-001 ↗

Identifiers

PubChem
CID 12810 (delta-Decalactone)
Formula
C10H18O2
InChIKey
GHBSPIPJMLAMEP-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Wikidata
Q27159530
ChEBI
CHEBI:87327

Checked against PubChem and Wikidata on 2026-10-02 (identifier check run 37063263965). Every name SmellBook uses must resolve to the same single PubChem compound.

WHAT THIS MEANS

SmellBook lists a molecule only where a VERIFIED claim names it, in the role and scope that claim states. A molecule reported in a smell's evidence is not the whole smell: most smells come from many compounds together, and the studies measured particular samples, such as one cultivar, an essential oil or a cooked product.

Permanent identifier smellbook:molecule:delta-decalactone · Graph record (JSON)

Cite as SmellBook. (2026). δ-decalactone (molecule). SmellBook knowledge graph, Strategy Phase 369. smellbook:molecule:delta-decalactone. https://smellbook.com/molecules/delta-decalactone

Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since Strategy Phase 369.