Printed from smellbook.com/smells/fresh-corn. This printout keeps the entry for Fresh Corn 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.
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Also known as Sweetcorn
A sweet green grain smell associated with fresh corn kernels, husk and summer food.
Its type, Source, means the smell is named after “a physical origin that can contribute a smell”; it is not an evidence source, such as a study or a book. The page for Corn lists every smell recorded as coming from it.
Fresh corn smells sweet, green and grainy, with a milky softness from the kernels and a grassy edge from the husk. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
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Links SmellBook records for this entry: what it comes from, 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 FRESH CORN
Fresh corn smells sweet, green and grainy, with a milky softness from the kernels and a grassy edge from the husk. The odour is mild until the cob is husked or cut, when a fresh, slightly starchy note fills the air. Lightly boiled corn turns rounder and buttery, close to warm cereal, while raw corn stays crisp and green.
It is met at summer markets and farm stalls, in kitchens when husking cobs, and at barbecues and outdoor meals. Many people link it with late summer, when fresh corn is piled high in season.
Typical settings: corn cob, market, summer kitchen.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Dimethyl sulfide in cooked sweet corn. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
4 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.
Fresh Corn centers uncooked or lightly prepared corn rather than roasted or popcorn states.
Words that are easy to mix up: Is fresh the same as clean?, How do green and herbal differ?, Why is creamy not just sweet? and Is citrus a kind of fresh?
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
Dimethyl sulfide in cooked sweet corn
In the headspace of cooked sweet corn, dimethyl sulfide was the most abundant aroma volatile, and sensory monitoring of the separated compounds found it the primary factor in cooked corn aroma, along with hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol and, to a lesser degree, ethanethiol.
The source concerns cooked and processed sweet corn and says nothing about raw kernels or husk; in the same study aroma contributed 15% to panelists' overall flavour scores.
How this was found: Odour analysis with human assessors. People smelled the separated compounds or the material itself (for example gas chromatography–olfactometry, dilution analysis, recombination or a sensory panel). Source: primary study; sensory or perception work.
L. F. Flora & R. C. Wiley
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1974.tb17976.xEach 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.
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Fresh Corn.
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-0132 — Fresh Cornsmellbook:smell:fresh-cornhttps://smellbook.com/smells/fresh-cornSmellBook. (2026). Fresh Corn (revision 4, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:fresh-corn. https://smellbook.com/smells/fresh-corn@misc{smellbook_fresh_corn_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Fresh Corn},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:fresh-corn},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/fresh-corn}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-fresh-corn-r4 TI - Fresh Corn AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/fresh-corn N1 - SB-0132; smellbook:smell:fresh-corn; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/fresh-corn ER -
The citation names revision 4 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.
Fresh Corn centers uncooked or lightly prepared corn rather than roasted or popcorn states.
Other entries whose editors linked to Fresh Corn:
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 ↗