CHEESE: THE SCENT OF A MAN

CHEESE: THE SCENT OF A MAN

Men's sweat smells distinctly different from that of women.

Firmenich, a swiss company based near Geneva, develops perfumes for cosmetic products among other things. One current project aims at improving deodorants.

To this end, researchers have investigated odorofic substances in the armpits of 24 male and 25 female test persons; all of them had either visited a sauna or had been cycling for a quarter of an hour. The sweat of both sexes initially had no odour. Yet when the substances were subjected to bacteria found in the armpit this changed rapidly; the sweat turned into a foul smelling mixture-in both the sexes.

Researchers found that the composition of this bacterical end product differed inmen and women: female sweat contains sulphur compounds which were converted into thiol, aromatic substances with an odour of onions. In the case of men, the same bacteria resulted in the gamey smell of cheese.

Exactly what occurs during this chemical process is not yet known. Neverthless, Christian Starkenmann, a bio-chemist from the research and development division of Firmenich, hopes to find deterrents that stop the process of conversion from a neutral smell to distinct whiffs of cheese and onion.

For some researchers, however, this gender split between cheese and onion seems too simplistic.

Tim Jacob, a Scientist from the University of Cardiff who researches odour, points out that, "what you eat, the bath products you use, the clothes you wear and your genetic make up- all these factors make a difference.