Sandalwood found to have wound healing effects

The implications of a fascinating piece of new research could be widespread: 

Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany have found that not only are there olfactory receptors in the top layer of human skin, but have shown that a particular sandalwood odourant can trigger those receptors resulting in increased growth and migration in the surrounding cells.

As this is such new research, there is every chance that other odourants will, in the future, be found to have similar or perhaps quite different effects on the skin with obvious implications for their use in perfumery as well as for medical and other applications.

This research, led by Dr Daniela Busse and Prof Dr Dr Dr med habil Hanns Hatt from the Department for Cellphysiology published their report in the "Journal of Investigative Dermatology”.  

There are many synthetic sandalwood
odourants of which this is one

Reporting of the findings appears in Time but they don’t mention there, the answer to the question that will be uppermost in the minds of perfume-makers: which specific odourant has this effect?

The answer is it was Sandalore (a brand name owned by Givaudan) or 3-methyl-5-(2,2,3-trimethyl-1-cyclopent-3-enyl)pentan-2-ol, if you prefer the chemical designation.

A Lecture on Olfaction

Here is an excellent, short lecture on olfaction from perfumer and teacher Vedat Ozan where he describes how smell works and why it is so important to us as humans.

Insight into the fragrance industry

For the second time in succession I find myself presenting a video that gives a great insight into the world of fragrance creation.  This time it was made by IFRA North America - the NA branch of the International Fragrance Association - and it features interviews with several perfumers and others involved in the creation process.  It's about 17 minutes long and I heartily commend it to anyone with an interest in the subject.

Koku - an interview with a perfumer

I'm including here a video made for television featuring an interview with another perfumer, working in Turkey.  It's in Turkish but with English subtitles, which though occasionally imperfect are easily good enough to enable understanding.

Vedat talks to his interviewer about the nature of olfaction, the history of scent, its connnection with art, science and the industrial scale production of most modern fragrances: fascinating stuff and well worth a few minutes of your time to watch:



 Oh and Koku? It means scent but also fragrance, smell, olfaction and so on - a wonderfully multi-purpose Turkish word.

Mill Hill Essays | MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London

Interesting article exploring how research into the way the sense of smell works has applications for wider human health.  Included is a well-written explanation of the prevailing theory of how smells are perceived.

Mill Hill Essays | MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London

A new view of the way the sense of smell works.

This article from Red Orbit discusses some new research that suggests odour detection in the olfactory bulb and brain may work in a different way from that previously thought.

From an evolutionary point of view this new theory seems to make good sense - it will be interesting to see whether further research supports it.

If you’re up for a slightly more detailed examination of the science this version in Neuroscience News adds a bit more.

Hyacinth Flower Scent

What’s actually in the scent of a flower?

It’s probably not a question most people ask, but if you’re interested in the answer I’m presenting here a discussion of the components of the scent of hyacinth flowers.

Hyacinths in flower in the Pell Wall garden

Interview with Richard Axel on the nature of smell

This remarkable half hour interview with Nobel Prize winning scientist Richard Axel, starts with a discussion of the nature of smell and wanders on into gene splicing, the discovery of the mechanism by which the AIDS/HIV infection works, touching on the sex-life of snails and opera.  Along the way we get a wonderful insight into the way original science is done and conclude with a philosophical understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge.


Link to Charlie Rose's Interview with Richard Axel