Favorite Acetophenone

Chemists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture say the aroma of a tortilla is mostly due to 2-amino-acetophenone, a compound which develops when corn is soaked in lime water, the traditional treatment for producing corn masa. Food chemists have identified more than 40 flavor compounds in tortillas, but 2-amino-acetophenone was the hands-down winner as most tortilla-like, as judged by a panel of government-appointed flavor smellers.