That cherry flavor you enjoy in candy and soda is likely a combination of compounds discovered through the study of plants in laboratories far from cherry trees.

Cherry flavoring and the sweet scent of almond extract, may actually come from a petunia.

That’s the finding from a team of Purdue University researchers which recently found the molecular recipe for one of the most coveted compounds by the flavor industry: benzaldehyde.

It may not sound tasty, but it is key to some of the most popular flavors including cherry, almond and raspberry. It is second only to vanilla in in terms of value to the food industry.

The Purdue research team studied the scent of the petunia to discover the molecular recipe.

The work is detailed published in Nature Communications, and a patent on the process is pending.