China News Service, Beijing, March 22 (Reporter Sun Zifa) A new paper published in the professional academic journal "Communications-Chemistry" owned by Springer Nature stated that through a small study, researchers discovered the chemical composition of the body odor of infants and adolescents. difference. Among the differences found were two compounds found only in teen body odor samples that smelled like sweat, urine, musk and sandalwood.
The corresponding author of the paper, Helene M. Loos of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, together with colleagues and collaborators, compared the chemical composition of mixed body odor samples from 18 infants (0-3 years old) and 18 adolescents (14-18 years old) . The samples for this study came from cotton pads sewn into the armpits of cotton T-shirts and baby onesies, which the subjects wore overnight. Parents of adolescent participants and infant participants were asked to avoid strong-smelling foods and the use of scented products and detergents for 48 hours before the study.
A researcher uses gas chromatography-olfactometry to focus on odor-active compounds (Image by Nicole Kornbausch). Springer Nature/Photo provided
The authors of the paper found that although the chemical composition of body odor was similar between the two groups, the samples collected from the teenagers contained more of the carboxylic acids 3-methylbutyrate, 2-methylheptanoate, caprylic acid, 4-ethyloctanoic acid, and lauric acid. Acids and myristic acids, as well as patchouli alcohol and an unknown odor. They describe the smell of carboxylic acids as "cheesy," "fruity and pruney," "musty, coriander, and grease," "goaty," "waxy and soapy" and "earthy, grassy, and peppery. "Smell", and the unknown smell has the smell of "sandalwood and incense", and the baguette plum has the smell of "earth".
Two steroidal compounds, androstenone, were also identified, present only in samples from teenagers, which they reported smelled like "sweat, urine and musk" and "sandalwood and musk" respectively. Alpha-isomethylionone, which has a "violet-like" odor and an unknown odor described as "soap and fragrance", was found at higher levels in infant body odor samples than in adolescents. The researchers noted that because they analyzed pooled samples, it was not possible to determine whether these compounds were present in all individual body odor samples from each age group.
Researchers used high-vacuum distillation to separate volatiles and odor-active substances from other components extracted from body odor samples (Image by Nicole Kornbausch). Springer Nature/Photo provided
The authors concluded that the presence of higher levels of carboxylic acids and steroids may be due to differences in the activity of sebaceous glands and apocrine glands (both associated with hair follicles) in adolescents and infants. They suggest that it is possible that the betacholinol and alpha-isomethylionone came from aromatic substances that persisted despite participants using non-aromatic products before the study. It is speculated that the absence of unpleasant steroidal odors and lower carboxylic acid levels in infant body odor samples may contribute to the common perception that infants have better body odor than adolescents. (over)