It’s a scent he sometimes smells of existence A safe and boring option. But Vanilla has been crowned the world’s favorite fragrance by a team of international experts.
Scientists from Oxford university Based on Stockholm Karolinska Institute They presented 10 scents to 235 people from nine different cultures around the world. The same It included people from urban America, Mexico and Thailand, Beside Isolated farmers living in the mountains of South America, hunters in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, and fishing communities on the Pacific coast of Central America.
About the project Field scientists working in remote areas were hired to deliver scented vials to isolated individuals who had little or no exposure to western scents. “Because these groups live in such dissimilar odorous environments, such as the tropical jungle, the coast, the mountains, the citywe capture many different types of “olfactory experiences”, the doctor said Artin Archman, subordinate Karolinska Institute, author study.
He added, “We wanted to examine whether people all over the world have the same olfactory perception and like the same types of smell, or whether this is something that has been culturally learned. It was seen as a cultural thing, but we can show that culture has little to do with it.”
Academics found it Cultural connotations or affiliations had little effect on the degree of liking for a scent, As the chemical makeup of the fragrance elicited a general response such as admiration or hatred, no matter where you live in the world, what language you speak, and what you eat.
The ten perfumes used in the experiment It was deliberately chosen to be representative of all scents Exists in the world, as identified in a previous study that analyzed nearly 500 scented molecules. And It contained chemicals that smelled like sweaty feet, rotting fish, mushrooms, lavender, and vanilla.
For the participants in the study published in the journal current biology, They were simply asked to smell each chemical and rate how pleasant it was compared to the other nine substances. The vanilla, Produced from orchids, The scent was the most preferred, followed by a chemical with a peach scent and a lavender-like scent.
At the other end of the scale, The most unpleasant odors were chemicals called isovaleric acid, diethyl disulfide, and 2-isobutyl-3-methoxyperazine, That smell Sweaty feet, rotting fish and ripe green peppers, Straight.
in general, The trends were consistent for all ten pools at all nine sites. Cultures all over the world classify different scents in a similar way, regardless of their source, but Scent preferences have a personal component, albeit not a cultural component.” compressed Archman.
Smells may be related to Greater chance of survival. expert speculate that People agree on pleasant smells the most, regardless of geography or lifestyle, Because Some odors may have historically been associated with a higher chance of survival.
For example, our sense of smell can elicit disdain for a specific scent because our ancient ancestors associated it with a poisonous plant. While that, We may like other scents because they were produced by other plants that were safe to consume.
“right Now We know that there is a global perception of smells that is governed by molecular structure and this explains why we like or dislike a particular scent. The next step is to study Why is it Connect this knowledge to what happens in the brain when we smell a particular scent.” Archman.
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