Perfume from bacteria...say what?!

The Daily Star has an interesting article by S. Ashraf Ahmed

MUCH of our characteristic body smells are attributed to the metabolic activity of the prevalent type of microorganisms a person harbours. This is due to the overwhelming presence of microorganisms in our body that one day may define human or animal as “made of microorganisms”!

As a faculty at Dhaka University, I taught an organic chemistry class. To make this apparently boring subject interesting, I would offer (explain) my sleepy 8 AM-class with the chemical components of coffee (caffeine) brewed with cinnamon (phenylpropionate), or offer a thirsty, sweaty and stinky noon-class with vanilla or vanillin (orthomethoxy-parahydroxy-benzaldehyde) ice cream flavour or the substitute for deer-musk perfume (dinitrobenzaldehyde). The trick was very effective! So, it is only natural that news of variations in the fragrance of vevitar grass oil (Khas attar), will not escape my attention.
In 2008, Italian scientists announced the disc

In 2008, Italian scientists announced the discovery of two bacterial groups that are responsible for transforming sesquiterpine, the main component of the vevitar grass oil into secondary compounds giving rise to differences in fragrance. Microorganisms have long been used to produce almost all kinds of bio-molecules. From their discovery, the Italian scientists saw a great potential to advance fragrance and flavour chemistry by exploiting bacteria with biotechnology.

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