4-Ethyloctanoic acid

Reported present in boiled and cooked mutton, ewe fat, heated lamb and mutton fat, lamb fat, raw lamb and goat and sheep cheese.

4‐Methyloctanoic acid (4‐MOA), 4‐ethyloctanoic acid (4‐EOA), and 4‐methylnonanoic acid (4‐MNA) are saturated 4‐alkyl branched‐chain fatty acids (BCFA) that significantly contribute to the characteristic muttony or goaty flavour in sheep and goat meat. Subcutaneous adipose sheep tissue of three different breeds contained 23–88 μg/g 4-methyloctanoic acid, 13–26 μg/g 4-ethyloctanoic acid and ～2.9–18 μg/g 4-methylnonanoic acid[1].

Five sulfur-containing flavor compounds were synthesized by the reaction of 4-ethyloctanoyl chloride with sulfur-containing alcohols or mercaptans. 4-ethyloctanoic acid is identified from flue-cured Virginia tobacco. Mainly used as daily flavor,food flavor,industrial flavor, nutrient, stabilizers, surfactants and emulsifiers.

ChEBI: 4-Ethyloctanoic acid is a medium-chain fatty acid.

Detection: 1.8 ppb

[1] Stefanie Kaffarnik, Walter Vetter, Siegfried Preu . “Direct determination of flavor relevant and further branched-chain fatty acids from sheep subcutaneous adipose tissue by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry.” Journal of Chromatography A 1350 (2014): Pages 92-101.