ketone

Overview

Ketone is a broad chemical term used for compounds containing a carbonyl group bonded to two carbon atoms. In biology and medicine, ketones are important because they occur as volatile flavor compounds in foods, as metabolic products in human physiology, and as substrates or products in enzymatic redox reactions. In clinical settings, ketone measurement is commonly associated with diabetes care and metabolic monitoring, where elevated ketone levels can reflect altered energy metabolism and, in some contexts, insulin deficiency or reduced carbohydrate availability.

In recent biomedical and food-science research, ketones have been studied less as a single discrete drug target and more as a chemically and biologically relevant class of molecules. They appear in flavoromics, metabolomics, and enzymology studies alongside aldehydes, fatty acids, and other volatile organic compounds. Their roles include contributing to aroma profiles, serving as markers of metabolic remodeling, and participating in reduction reactions catalyzed by enzymes such as myoglobin ketoreductase.

Focus of Latest Publications

Recent publications involving ketones span food chemistry, enzymology, and clinical documentation of metabolic biomarkers.

In food and flavor research, ketones were repeatedly identified as part of complex volatile profiles. A study of high internal phase emulsion gels based on soy protein isolate, chitosan, and alginate showed that the system could encapsulate and regulate the release of key flavor compounds, including aldehydes, ketones, and alcohols. This suggests a role for ketones in controlled flavor delivery within structured food matrices. Similarly, coffee-origin identification using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography described ketones as one of several volatile classes contributing to the chemical patterns used for origin discrimination. In chive leaves and stems, aldehydes and ketones were reported to be closely related to amino acid metabolism and sugar cleavage during drying, indicating that ketone formation can reflect underlying biochemical changes during processing.

Tomato flavoromics also highlighted ketones as major contributors to sensory differences. In taste tomatoes versus ordinary tomatoes, aldehydes and ketones dominated the ordinary tomato profile, whereas methyl salicylate, β-ionone, and esters were more associated with fruity and floral notes in taste tomatoes. This places ketones among the compounds shaping baseline aroma characteristics in plant-derived foods. Likewise, phytochemical profiling of Opuntia ficus-indica oil identified ketones among approximately thirty bioactive compounds detected by extraction and analytical chemistry workflows.

In enzymology, ketones were directly involved in a mechanistic study of engineered metalloenzymes. The investigators modeled formation of an iron-hydride intermediate and the subsequent ketone reduction process, indicating that ketones can serve as substrates in biocatalytic reduction reactions. The mention of myoglobin ketoreductase in the extracted methods further supports the relevance of ketone reduction in protein-engineering and catalytic mechanism studies.

In clinical research, ketones were examined as a monitored biomarker rather than as a molecular target. A hospital-based study on inaccurate manually documented point-of-care blood glucose and ketone measures emphasized that optimal inpatient diabetes management requires accurate blood glucose and ketone documentation. Another metabolic study of insulin resistance and diet switch-triggered calorie reduction reported increased ketones in the liver alongside improved insulin sensitivity, reduced triacylglycerol and diacylglycerol, decreased protein kinase C epsilon activity, and reduced de novo lipogenesis. In this context, ketones were part of a broader metabolic remodeling response associated with calorie reduction.

Across these studies, ketones were therefore relevant in three main ways: as volatile flavor compounds in food systems, as substrates in enzymatic reduction chemistry, and as clinically important metabolic markers in diabetes and insulin resistance research.

Key Publications

Jun Enzyme- and ion-induced high internal phase emulsion gels based on soy protein isolate, chitosan, and alginate as fat analogues: Tunable texture and controlled flavor release. (International journal of biological macromolecules, 2026, PMID 42086137): "this HIPEG showed excellent ability to encapsulate and regulate the release of key flavor compounds, including aldehydes, ketones, and alcohols."
May Integrated analysis of insulin resistance reveals metabolic remodeling following diet switch-triggered calorie reduction. (Science advances, 2026, PMID 42090498): "In the liver, improved insulin sensitivity correlates with reduced triacylglycerol and diacylglycerol and protein kinase C epsilon activity, alongside substantially decreased de novo lipogenesis and increased ketones."
May Computer vision-based augmented visualisation for coffee origins identitation using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography. (Journal of chromatography. A, 2026, PMID 41780189): "This variability generates complex chemical patterns, encompassing hundreds of volatile compounds from diverse chemical classes including pyrazines, furans, aldehydes, ketones, and terpenes."
May Orchestrating Metal-Hydride Reactivity in Engineered Metalloenzymes: Electronic and Electrostatic Determinants of the Reaction Mechanism. (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2026, PMID 42036884): "We model the formation of the iron-hydride (Fe-H) intermediate and the subsequent ketone reduction process."
May Lost in Transcription: Frequency of Inaccurate Manually Documented Point-of-Care Blood Glucose and Ketone Measures in Hospital. (Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism, 2026, PMID 41917698): "Optimal inpatient diabetes management requires accurate blood glucose (BG) and ketone (BK) documentation."
May Characterization of flavor profiles in chive leaves and stems at different moisture transfer points during combined drying: An integrated approach with e-nose, GC-IMS, GC-MS, and machine learning. (Food chemistry, 2026, PMID 41740386): "Additionally, potential metabolic pathway analysis indicated that dipropyl disulfide and dimethyl disulfide originate from the enzymatic reaction of S-alkylcysteine sulfoxides; terpenoids are associated with carotenoid cleavage; and aldehydes and ketones are closely related to amino acid metabolism and sugar cleavage."
May Distinct differences of taste quality and metabolite profile between taste tomatoes and ordinary tomatoes revealed by HS-SPME-GC-MS flavoromics and LC-MS metabolomics. (Food chemistry, 2026, PMID 41762560): "Methyl salicylate, β-ionone, and esters imparted prominent fruity and floral characteristics to taste tomatoes, whereas aldehydes and ketones dominated in ordinary tomatoes."
May Phytochemical profiling and in vitro biological activities of Opuntia ficus-indica oil extracted by different methods. (Scientific reports, 2026, PMID 42056158): "Approximately thirty bioactive compounds were identified, including fatty acids, carboxylic acids, aldehydes, and ketones."