SMELLBOOK REFERENCE · SB-0056
Onion
Permanent ID: smellbook: · updated 2026-10-06, revision 3
Character EDITORIAL
Raw onion is sharp, pungent and savoury, with a stinging edge that reaches the eyes and lingers on the hands.
Words: pungent, sharp, savoury, sulfurous. Families: Sharp and bitter.
States: fresh (EDITORIAL), cut (VERIFIED), cooked (VERIFIED), fried (EDITORIAL), raw (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.
Met in: Kitchen.
Evidence
Scientific evidence
- A potent odorant of raw and cooked onion (CLM-ONION-001). Michael Granvogl, Monika Christlbauer & Peter Schieberle, Quantitation of the Intense Aroma Compound 3-Mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol in Raw and Processed Onions (Allium cepa) of Different Origins and in Other Allium Varieties Using a Stable Isotope Dilution Assay, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2004.
Molecules named in these claims: 3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol. A molecule listed here is named in a VERIFIED claim about this smell. It is not presented as the cause of the smell; each claim says what its source supports.
Cite
SmellBook. (2026). Onion (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:onion. https://smellbook.com/smells/onion
https: