Deodorants for Flowers

FOR RELEASE: Monday, June 16

DEODORANTS FOR FLOWERS

A dose of radiation softens the smell of overpowering blooms

The heady odor of jasmine flowers is enough to give some people headaches and nausea. But there is a way to tame the aggressive perfume of jasmine and other blooms, according to research described in the June 16 issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.

Dr. Lars P. Christensen, senior scientist in the ornamentals department of the Danish Institute of Plant and Soil Science, along with colleagues there and at Denmark's Odense University, zapped newly rooted Jasminum polyanthum cuttings with gamma rays to induce random mutations in their cells. Cuttings taken from these plants were grown for three months, and the most promising were then cloned. After the plants bloomed, the researchers used analytical equipment to measure the volatile chemicals that composed the flowers' aroma.

Flowers on these "descendants" of the irradiated plants gave off the same group of odor chemicals as untreated jasmine flowers do, Christensen reports. But the total amounts of odor chemicals from the flowers of some of the new plants was reduced as much as 63 percent as compared with the untreated flowers. The scientists propose that the radiation affected the plant mechanism responsible for the accumulation and release of volatile odor chemicals. They also note that they screened only a small number of plants, so a larger study may result in jasmine with even subtler odors.

Christensen says he is "convinced the work can be applied to other flowers to modify or reduce the aroma of plants with a strong or undesirable odor." One example he mentions is flowering rapeseed (Brassica napus), whos strong odor is linked with indisposition in some people, according to reports from England. The researchers are working with Danisco Seed company to investigate "whether unpleasant components of rape flower odor can be avoided."

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ACS News Service Contacts:

Print media: Jim Bohning, 202/872-6041 (office), [email protected] Broadcast media: Theresa Laranang-Mutlu, 202/872-4371 (office), [email protected] For a copy of the full article: Sally Pecor, 202/872-4451 (office), [email protected]

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The American Chemical Society, founded in 1876, is the world's largest scientific society, with more than 151,000 members.