With Valentine’s Day upcoming, part of your Valentine’s plan may well involve sending flowers to India online . These come in an array of different colours, and also have a range of different scents. What are the chemical compounds behind these scents? That’s the question that this graphic tries to answer, with a more detailed discussion of each below.
Firstly, it’s important to realise that aroma chemistry is complex, and the smell of any flower is never really the consequence of a single chemical compound. Flowers give off a complex mix of volatile organic chemicals, and whilst not all of these will contribute to the aroma, a significant number will impact it to varying degrees. Whilst we can’t point to single compounds as being the cause of flowers’ scents, we can identify those that have a major impact on the aroma that our noses detect; in many cases, there will be molecules that make a large contribution, and it’s those we’ll discuss here.
Roses
Roses online are by far and away the most popular choice of flower for Valentine’s Day — and by association, the most expensive! Their scent is majorly influenced by compound named after the flower, (-)-cis-rose oxide. This molecule is a particular isomer of rose oxide (which has 4 different isomers), and the one which contributes the typical floral rose fragrance. It’s detectable by our noses at very low concentrations in air — down as low as 5 parts per billion. To give this some perspective, one part per billion is equivalent to one second in thirty-two years.
Another compound that contributes to the scent of roses is beta-damascenone. This compound belongs to a family of chemical entities known as rose ketones. It also has an even lower odour threshold than rose oxide, with its aroma being detectable at just 0.009 parts per billion. Another compound with a comparably low odour threshold, beta-ionone, is also an important contributor; both of these compounds are minor constituents of the plant’s essential oil, but of great importance to its perceived fragrance.
Other compounds that make minor contributions to the aroma include geraniol, nerol, (-)-citronellol, farnesol, and linalool.
Carnations
Carnations online, too, are a common component of floral bouquets. In comparison to roses, their scent is much fainter; the major aroma chemicals that make up this scent are eugenol, beta-caryophyllene, and benzoic acid derivatives.
Scents can be very variable between different species of carnations; one study correlated this with the varying proportions of eugenol and methyl salicylate in the aroma volatiles. Eugenol is actually a compound that’s been discussed before on the site, in the context of its occurrence in cloves. Methyl salicylate is also found in many other plants, and is more commonly known as oil of wintergreen.
Read more at https://www.businessinsider.com.au/why-flowers-smell-so-good-2015-2#piev1IJcMAlcHWeR.99
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