Sometimes it’s better not to know where nice things come from. That’s the lesson Japanese netizens learned last week when a TV show revealed a very unpleasant fact about why jasmine has its unique and fragrant scent.
In a segment of the variety show aptly called “it’s better that you don’t know,” the president of an “aroma school” in Tokyo revealed that the compound that gives jasmine its pleasant fragrance is also responsible for a very unwelcome smell familiar to us all.
The TV show, hosted by Masahiro Nakai the leader of the legendary J-Pop group SMAP, had brought aroma expert Malane Sawada on to reveal a shocking fact about odor. Not mincing words, Ms. Sawada told the audience that the same compound that gives jasmine its intoxicating, flowery fragrance is also the same compound found in feces. So yes, that perfume with jasmine oil is related to the inside of your toilet bowel.
▼ Who needs pure jasmine extract when you can apparently make your own?
Image: Wikipedia
But Ms. Sawada went on to explain that the compound Skatole (which is totally related to the word scat so giggle away) gives off a different scent depending on the concentration. In very high concentrations, such as that found in poop, it smells like, well, poop. But in lower concentrations, the compound has a light, flowery smell, such as in jasmine. She told the audience that the first time she heard that jasmine and poop shared a chemical compound, she was shocked and didn’t believe it.
As part of the show, they went out to the streets and gave unsuspecting people a whiff of the compound, telling them it was “a very strong jasmine odor.” Unsurprisingly, no one wanted to dab this perfume behind their ears and it even made a few people gag.
While this is hardly the most appetizing thing to learn about what might have been your favorite tea or perfume scent, maybe it can make those unfortunately smelly trips to the bathroom a little more pleasant knowing that you’re breathing in a heavily concentrated floral scent.
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