Changes that occur during puberty include an increase in height, muscle development, and more noticeable body odor. Scientists have now found certain compounds that contribute to the unique smell of teenagers.
It’s been discovered that the body odor of teenagers differs from that of infants and young children due to the presence of two distinct smelly steroids and increased amounts of carboxylic acids, as detailed in the Communications Chemistry journal on March 21. These chemicals are produced when bacteria decomposes armpit sweat and sebum, the oily substance secreted to moisturize our skin, and they may play a role in the significant shift in body odor during puberty.
“Body odor varies throughout the course of development,” says chemist Helene Loos from Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. “We find a wide variety of odor compounds present within body odor.”
In their study, Loos and her team collected body odor samples from two subjects groups: 18 teenagers aged 14 to 18 and 18 infants aged 0 to 3. The infants slept with cotton pads under their arms through the night. When researchers split the body odor into individual elements, they discovered that there were more than 40 common compounds in the body odor of children and teenagers.
While no differences were identified between age categories within some classes of chemicals, carboxylic acid compounds were more common in teenagers’ body odor. The scents of these compounds ranged from pleasing—identified as fruity, soapy, or grassy—and less pleasant—described as cheesy, musty, or reminiscent of goats.
Notably, two unique steroids were detected only in the body odor of teenagers. One, known as 5α-androst-16-en-3-one, has a scent similar to sweat, urine, and musk. The other, known as 5α-androst-16-en-3α-ol, smells like musk and sandalwood.
The study’s participants avoided deodorant and used unscented body wash and detergent for two days prior to the study, but a few scented product components were also found in the body odor samples.
Biochemist Andreas Natsch of Givaudan, a Swiss-based fragrance and flavour manufacturer, notes that certain compounds that are known to contribute to strong body odor were not identified. This may be due to the need for different detection techniques, or maybe these compounds are more prevalent after physical activity or sweating.
Loos intends to explore these compounds in future research and examine how body odor evolves at other developmental stages.
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