The Chemical basis of Scent Preference

There may be more reason for preferring some scents to others than you may have initially believed. A 2015 article from Science Daily describes a study conducted by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. This study examines the response of olfactory cues derived from hydroxycinnamic acids emitted from the odor of fruits that contain antioxidants in drosophila (commonly known as fruit flies). Antioxidants are natural chemicals in food that have been found to prevent cell degradation. The function of the specific olfactory receptors that these cues bind to is to elicit attractive responses. This observation leads scientists to conclude that some things could smell good for the purpose of promoting good health!

Other research has shown that things may smell bad for a reason too.  Dr. Bozza recently gave a talk about his research focusing on a small group of olfactory receptors with high amine affinty called TAARs (Pacifico et al, 2012). This study examined the mapping and function of TAARs by use of gene targeting. One conclusion suggested from the data in this study is that the function of TAARs found in rodents is to elicit innate aversion to odors including predator cat urine. The reason for this is that cat urine is enriched with b-phenylethylamine, an amine that serves as a ligand to one of the receptors in the TAAR group. This innate aversion to this amine could be evolutionarily conserved for protection and safety for the rodent, which is typically a prey to larger animals like cats.

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. "Things smell good for a reason." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 January 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150127122454.htm>.

Pacifico, R., Adam, D., Cawley, D., Guo, C., & Bozza, T. “An Olfactory Subsystem that Mediates High-Sensitivity Detection of Volatile Amines.” Cell Press.