Printed from smellbook.com/smells/seaweed. This printout keeps the entry for Seaweed 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.
Marine, salty, green and damp coastal character associated with sea vegetation.
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.
Seaweed smells marine, salty and green, with a damp, slightly briny and sometimes savoury tone. 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 SEAWEED
Seaweed smells marine, salty and green, with a damp, slightly briny and sometimes savoury tone. Fresh seaweed is clean and briny; seaweed drying on a beach becomes stronger, heavier and more pungent. The smell is dense and coastal. It is close to sea air, though greener, wetter and more concentrated.
People meet it on shorelines at low tide, around rock pools and harbour walls, and at fish and seafood markets, as well as in some dishes and snacks. Many people link it with wild, open coasts.
Typical settings: shoreline, rock pool, seafood market.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Volatile compounds of edible seaweeds. 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.
5 molecules are named in this claim; see the evidence for the role the claim gives them. The molecules this claim names were detected or measured in the study. The claim does not say they shape the smell.
Seaweed is a source profile that can contribute strongly to specific coastal smell identities.
Words that are easy to mix up: How do green and herbal differ? and How do marine and salty differ?
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
Volatile compounds of edible seaweeds
A review of edible seaweeds reports volatiles composed mainly of aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, hydrocarbons, esters, acids, sulfur compounds and furans, with benzaldehyde, 2-octenal, octanal, β-ionone and 8-heptadecene identified in several species.
Edible green, red and brown seaweeds; the review calls for more research on their flavour compounds.
How this was found: Chemical composition. Compounds were identified or measured, without any assessment of their odour. Source: review of earlier studies; chemistry work.
Shuang Li, Meijuan Hu, Yupei Tong, Zhangyi Xia, Yichao Tong, Yuqing Sun, Jiaxing Cao, Jianheng Zhang, Jinlin Liu, Shuang Zhao & Peimin He
DOI 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112559Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. These molecules were detected or measured in the study. 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
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MAP THIS SMELL
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Seaweed.
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-0039 — Seaweedsmellbook:smell:seaweedhttps://smellbook.com/smells/seaweedSmellBook. (2026). Seaweed (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:seaweed. https://smellbook.com/smells/seaweed@misc{smellbook_seaweed_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Seaweed},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:seaweed},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/seaweed}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-seaweed-r3 TI - Seaweed AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 3 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/seaweed N1 - SB-0039; smellbook:smell:seaweed; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/seaweed 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.
Seaweed is a source profile that can contribute strongly to specific coastal smell identities.
Other entries whose editors linked to Seaweed:
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 ↗