3 ms·

Interestingly, I've smelled pure skatole in the lab and it didn't smell bad at all, it smelled like mothballs (not surprisingly considering the structural simil

by refurb 3y ago

Interestingly, I've smelled pure skatole in the lab and it didn't smell bad at all, it smelled like mothballs (not surprisingly considering the structural similarity to naphthalene [moth balls]). My theory is that in the synthesis of skatole, you end up with a lot of indole impurities that smell like feces even in small quantities. They can be hard to remove so people associate skatole with the smell. It's pretty common in chemistry, many chemicals have bad smells from minor impurities. Isopropyl alcohol is a good example, it has small quantities of acetone. Ethanol has small quantities of acetaldehyde. Really pure ethanol smells quite sweet.

mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago
Interesting. I wonder if this is one of those things with odour, where odours can be contextual. I believe there are studies where people are exposed to odour chemicals, and their experience was dependent on what they were told the odour was, even though chemically it was the same odour. The most famous example is probably parmesan vs foot odour, which shares some of the same odourants, and they've exhibited this context dependence too, I believe. But I don't discount your hypothesis. Upon further googling, it appears indole itself(with no groups on it) is also a known strong component in the odour of faeces. As for boar taint(finally found the English term for it) it seems this is both associated with skatole and androstenone. So now I'm wondering what the actual evidence is that skatole is supposed to smell/taste bad on its own. Can't find any sources on this happening in non-pigs though. So I'm starting to think the mutton and duck I had were just contaminated, probably by being raised in unsanitary conditions. A good rule of thumb to avoid meat with boar taint I've found is to avoid cheap, smoked meat. Smoking is supposed to mask the off taste, but to me it just tastes bad and smoked.

by refurb 3y ago

mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago

Interesting. I wonder if this is one of those things with odour, where odours can be contextual. I believe there are studies where people are exposed to odour chemicals, and their experience was dependent on what they were told the odour was, even though chemically it was the same odour. The most famous example is probably parmesan vs foot odour, which shares some of the same odourants, and they've exhibited this context dependence too, I believe. But I don't discount your hypothesis. Upon further googling, it appears indole itself(with no groups on it) is also a known strong component in the odour of faeces. As for boar taint(finally found the English term for it) it seems this is both associated with skatole and androstenone. So now I'm wondering what the actual evidence is that skatole is supposed to smell/taste bad on its own. Can't find any sources on this happening in non-pigs though. So I'm starting to think the mutton and duck I had were just contaminated, probably by being raised in unsanitary conditions. A good rule of thumb to avoid meat with boar taint I've found is to avoid cheap, smoked meat. Smoking is supposed to mask the off taste, but to me it just tastes bad and smoked.