Speaking of smells, on numerous occasions when being subjected to instant mashed potatoes, I have noticed their smell as being the same as bat guano. I noticed it this week when my wife had mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC. Is it just me?
Fritz ________________________________ From: Mark Minton [mailto:mmin...@illinoisalumni.org] Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 2:17 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] Re: The smell of dirt Julia said: >>Actinomycetes (the common soil microbe that contributes so much to the earthy >>smell of dirt, both in and outside of caves). >Now I may know the "secret" ingredient in my "Cave Passages" candle that I >purchased from an ICS vendor (www.speleosoap.com). The smell of this candle >is EXACTLY like a cave passage! I don't know whether it is also made by actinomycetes (it seems to mainly come from streptomycetes), but one of the compounds responsible for the odor of dirt is called geosmin: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosmin>. It is a relatively simple molecule whose biochemical pathway has recently been elucidated: <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070916143521.htm>. Better living through chemistry! :-) Mark Minton
