The availability of large quantities of samples of the scientifically important chondrite class has enabled numerous investigations by many scientists; it is often described as "the best-studied meteorite in history.

Prior to 1969, the carbonaceous chondrite class was known from a small number of uncommon meteorites such as Orgueil, which fell in France in 1864.

This is typical of falls of large stones through the atmosphere and is due to the sudden braking effect of air resistance.

Allende stones became one of the most widely distributed meteorites and provided a large amount of material to study, far more than all of the previously known carbonaceous chondrite falls combined.

Allende is classified as a CV3 carbonaceous chondrite: the chemical composition, which is rich in refractory elements like calcium, aluminum, and titanium, and poor in relatively volatile elements like sodium and potassium, places it in the CV group, and the lack of secondary heating effects is consistent with petrologic type 3 (see meteorites classification).

In June 2012, researchers announced the discovery of another inclusion dubbed panguite, a hitherto unknown type of titanium dioxide mineral.

Unpublished detailed study in 2020 have purportedly identified iron and lithium-containing protein of extraterrestrial origin, hemolithin, first such discovery in meteorite.

[9][10] Close examination of the chondrules in 1971, by a team from Case Western Reserve University, revealed tiny black markings, up to 10 trillion per square centimeter, which were absent from the matrix and interpreted as evidence of radiation damage.

Similar structures have turned up in lunar basalts but not in their terrestrial equivalent which would have been screened from cosmic radiation by the Earth's atmosphere and geomagnetic field.

Thus it appears that the irradiation of the chondrules happened after they had solidified but before the cold accretion of matter that took place during the early stages of formation of the Solar System, when the parent meteorite came together.

This supports the theory that shockwaves from a supernova – the explosion of an aging massive star – triggered, or contributed to, the formation of the Solar System.

[12] Subsequent studies have found isotopic ratios of krypton, xenon, nitrogen and some other elements whose forms are also unknown in the Solar System.

The conclusion, from many studies with similar findings, is that there were a lot of substances in the presolar disc that were introduced as fine "dust" from nearby stars, including novas, supernovas, and red giants.