News in Brief Chemistry

Sweaty, vinegary and sweet odors mingle to make dark chocolate’s smell

Researchers reconstructed the aroma in the lab

chocolate

NOSE GOES  Researchers concocted the smell of two dark chocolate bars from their odor-producing compounds.

Charisse Kenion/Unsplash

By Carolyn Wilke

- More than 2 years ago

Scientists have sniffed out the chemicals that give some dark chocolates their smell.

The compounds that mingle to make the candy’s aroma include pleasant-smelling ones such as vanillin, which gives vanilla its smell, and flowery linalool.