title: A Sensory 3D Map of the Odor Description Space Derived from a Comparison of Numeric Odor Profile Databases.
abstract: Many authors have proposed different schemes of odor classification, which are useful to aid the complex task of describing smells. However, reaching a consensus on a particular classification seems difficult because our psychophysical space of odor description is a continuum and is not clustered into well-defined categories. An alternative approach is to describe the perceptual space of odors as a low-dimensional coordinate system. This idea was first proposed by Crocker and Henderson in 1927, who suggested using numeric profiles based on 4 dimensions: "fragrant," "acid," "burnt," and "caprylic." In the present work, the odor profiles of 144 aroma chemicals were compared by means of statistical regression with comparable numeric odor profiles obtained from 2 databases, enabling a plausible interpretation of the 4 dimensions. Based on the results and taking into account comparable 2D sensory maps of odor descriptors from the literature, a 3D sensory map (odor cube) has been drawn up to improve understanding of the similarities and dissimilarities of the odor descriptors most frequently used in fragrance chemistry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Statistics, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n edificio 7A, 46022 Valencia, Spain mazarcas@eio.upv.es.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zarzo
mesh_terms: D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D009812:Odorants; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: fragrance; odor character descriptor; psychophysics; sensory map