2-Pentylfuran is a very unique odor compound.
It has a beany odor note as reported by Belitz et al.20 and Smouse and Chang.22 As shown in Table 1, in contrast to other odor compounds, it increased with heating.
According to Bradley and Min,23 singlet oxygen could be formed by riboflavin present in soymilk, and 2- pentylfuran was generated by singlet oxygen action on linoleic acid via a specific oxidation mechanism.
7,10 Lee et al.10 also found only soy flour stored under light could generate 2- pentylfuran. Bradley and Min23 mainly contributed it to the formation of singlet oxygen induced by chlorophyll, which can promote the reaction in a similar manner as riboflavin.