Sollai Giorgia, Tomassini Barbarossa Iole, Usai Paolo, Hummel Thomas, Crnjar Roberto
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Sect. of Physiology, University of Cagliari, Italy.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Sect. of Physiology, University of Cagliari, Italy.
Physiol Behav. 2020 Apr 1;217:112820. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112820. Epub 2020 Jan 25.
Humans can accurately discern thousands of odorants, although there is a considerable inter-individual variability. Individuals can be classified as normosmic, hyposmic or anosmic, depending on their olfactory sensitivity or blindness. In this research we studied the olfactory sensitivity to banana head-space as a complex odor mixture in a group of 53 subjects classified for their olfactory status, by means of the "Sniffin' Sticks" extended test. Using the coupled Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/ Olfactometry (GC-MS/O) technique, the single components of the banana flavor mixture were separated, identified and verbally evaluated by each subject. For each compound both the "odor type" (i.e., odor quality: fruity, floral, green, etc.) and "odor descriptor" (i.e., name used by subjects for odor identification) were reported, so that we could identify molecules that were defined as smelling of banana. The results show that: (a) the threshold olfactory performance is linearly correlated with the number of odor-active compounds (total or smelling of banana) for each subject; (b) the intensity reported by each subject during the sniffing of the pen containing the banana aroma in the identification test is positively correlated both with its hedonic valence and the number of odor-active compounds smelling of banana. In conclusion, our findings show that human perception of single compounds is conditioned by the threshold olfactory performance of the subject and that his/her ability to detect single molecular components, which smell as the mixture, affects the intensity and hedonism for the complex aroma.
人类能够准确辨别数千种气味物质，尽管个体之间存在相当大的差异。根据嗅觉敏感度或嗅觉缺失情况，个体可分为嗅觉正常、嗅觉减退或嗅觉缺失。在本研究中，我们通过“嗅觉棒”扩展测试，对53名根据嗅觉状态分类的受试者组成的群体，研究了他们对香蕉顶空作为一种复杂气味混合物的嗅觉敏感度。使用气相色谱 - 质谱联用/嗅觉测量法（GC-MS/O）技术，分离、鉴定香蕉风味混合物的单一成分，并由每位受试者进行口头评估。对于每种化合物，都报告了“气味类型”（即气味特征：果香、花香、青香等）和“气味描述词”（即受试者用于气味识别的名称），以便我们能够识别被定义为有香蕉气味的分子。结果表明：（a）每个受试者的嗅觉阈值表现与气味活性化合物（全部或有香蕉气味的）数量呈线性相关；（b）在识别测试中，每位受试者在嗅闻装有香蕉香气的笔时报告的强度，与其享乐价和有香蕉气味的气味活性化合物数量均呈正相关。总之，我们的研究结果表明，人类对单一化合物的感知受受试者嗅觉阈值表现的制约，并且其检测闻起来像混合物的单一分子成分的能力，会影响复杂香气的强度和享乐感。
