[2] At room temperature, it is a colorless liquid with low solubility in water, upon which it floats to form an oily layer.

Although it is flammable, it has a relatively low vapor pressure (40 mmHg at 30 °C (86 °F)), so it can be safely handled at room temperature without special safety precautions.

[3] Methyl butyrate is present in small amounts in several plant products, especially pineapple oil.

[4] It can be produced by distillation from essential oils of vegetable origin, but is also manufactured on a small scale for use in perfumes[5] and as a food flavoring.

[6] However, studies have shown that, due to its short-chain length, methyl butyrate does not reproduce well the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behaviour and early CO2 formation characteristics of real biodiesel fuels.