Does the smell of cinnamon really neutralize the smell of decay?

May 6, 2007 11:08 AM

Does the smell of cinnamon really neutralize the smell of decay?

I recently read "Girlfriend in a Coma" by Douglas Coupland, and in there a character states that cinnamon is the natural anti-smell of decay (I'm sure there are better words to describe this, but I'm not well versed in the field of olfactology).

I've tried looking up whether that is true, but it seems that this is one of the very few questions Google can't answer.

So, hive-mind, can you help?

posted by richardh to science & nature (13 comments total)

"Cinnamon bark contains antiseptic properties that help to prevent infection by killing decay-causing bacteria, fungi, and viruses."
posted by fourstar at 11:31 AM on May 6, 2007

I never heard this before, but I'm an empiricist so I got out my cinnamon and my compost bucket and gave it a try. My compost is not very stinky, and it smells quite different from dead animals or rotting meat, but it was the most decayed thing I had on hand.

First I sniffed the compost to get a "baseline". Next, I sniffed the cinnamon, then sniffed the compost immediately after. The smell of the compost was significantly less. It took a few moments before I could smell it normally again. Then I sprinkled a little cinnamon directly on the compost but that had no effect - it seems I have to get a strong blast of cinnamon in order for the compost smell to be counteracted.

Interesting ... I tried this with some stinky cheese, but cinnamon had no effect on that, nor on some more pleasant smells. So it's not a universal "anti-stink", but if you'll allow me to speculate wildly, maybe it binds to some of the olfactory receptors that decay-smell binds to? (A given smell - say, Brie cheese - can often be made from hundreds of different compounds, and different olfactory receptors bind different components of the smell that we identify as "Brie". Or "rotting vegetables" or "dead animal" or whatever.)

I'm too lazy to look up references at the moment, but I remember from college lectures that olfactory receptors are somewhat flexible in their ability to bind many different compounds. So the receptor that binds Component X of decay-smell may also bind Component A of cinnamon smell, and a few other things besides.

Anyway, if the cinnamon gets there first and sits on the receptors that bind it (and some components of decay-smell), those receptors are blocked and can't respond to the components of decay-smell until the cinnamon goes away. Our brains looks for a certain "fingerprint" of compounds to decide what we're smelling, and if certain compounds are not detected (because cinnamon is blocking those receptors) our brains say "Not decay-stink".

IAAbiochemist, but IANAneuroscientist. Any real smellologists are encouraged to chime in and let me know if I'm full of BS.

A final thought: wasn't it the fashion centuries ago in Europe for people to carry little sachets of spices to block out the stinkitude of life before decent plumbing? Now I wonder if those sachets actually cancelled out some of the stink, in addition to smelling nice intrinsically.
posted by Quietgal at 11:50 AM on May 6, 2007 [4 favorites]

This guy says fire departments mix coffee and cinammon with a little water, and cook over high heat until burnt, to mask the smell of a corpse, at crime scenes, but I have no way of knowing how true that is. Personally, I'd think that would smell as bad as death, itself.

But cinammon is a common ingredient in potpourri, and in various stove top mixtures, because it is tolerated well in heavy doses by most people, and associated with pleasant memories of food. I suspect that the connections of cinammon with other good odors, and our tolerance of it in large doses is more responsible for any effectiveness it will have in masking odors, than any intrinisic properties it has.
posted by paulsc at 11:59 AM on May 6, 2007

I don't have any citations to contribute, but in the bathroom in the student center at the college I work at, a problem with the pipes has at times left the entire bathroom smelling more or less like raw sewage—and recently, they began spraying a very strong cinnamon scent in there every time they clean. It's so strong that at times I come out unable to smell much of anything for a little while—the cinnamon just clings to the inside of your nose.

It's almost as bad as the scent it's meant to cover up...but it does cover it up.
posted by limeonaire at 12:39 PM on May 6, 2007

One thing about cinnamon is that it's pleasant to smell even when it's overwhelmingly strong.

If you have to use a scent strong enough to mask the smell of a corpse, I'd rather it be cinnamon than, say, gasoline or urinal cake.
posted by nebulawindphone at 12:51 PM on May 6, 2007

cinnamon just clings to the inside of your nose.

Very well could be true; cinnamon oil is one of the very few essential oils-- along with clove oil and allspice oil-- which is more dense than water (1.05 g/ml to water's 1.00) which might be expected to make it's residence time on the receptors quite a bit longer than say, lavender oil's at 0.89, or rose oil's at 0.85.
posted by jamjam at 1:10 PM on May 6, 2007

Anecdote: When I was in a lab working with a cadaver, we would eat cinnamon Jolly Ranchers to block some of the scent. Obviously it was a preserved body and not decaying, but it still had a pronounced smell, and the cinnamon definitely helped.
posted by Bella Sebastian at 2:04 PM on May 6, 2007

All of this discussion makes me wonder if a pronounced reaction to cinnamon might be a good indicator of someone's profession or previous work as a serial killer.

Pavlov's Jolly Rancher, or something.
posted by fake at 3:52 PM on May 6, 2007

On second thought, I can't see why density would have much to do with it.
posted by jamjam at 3:54 PM on May 6, 2007

I remember reading something (though I can't find it now) about how certain beloved smells aren't universally shared...cinnamon was mentioned as actually smelling like rotting meat for people from a certain area of Africa, making them nauseous. I'll try to find it...
posted by Liosliath at 4:33 PM on May 6, 2007

Hey, I read it right here on MeFi, in a comment by Dunwitty.

"On the idea of food subjectivity - I recently read an article where food scientists were testing various spices and tastes with widespread cultures. Apparently, in several parts of Africa where traditional foods are still heavily favored, natives had never tasted cinnamon before and reacted violently. Gagging and puking was witnessed, among those the could be convinced to try it. These peoples associated the very smell of the spice with meat gone bad - seriously poisoned fair that could not be saved by cooking.

Man, we're talking cinnamon here.
posted by Dunwitty at 5:38 PM on May 22 [+]
[!]"
posted by Liosliath at 4:40 PM on May 6, 2007

When my dirty dirty college house smelled bad, we'd put some cinnamon in some water, and simmer it on the stove for a few hours. I'm not sure if the house smelled as bad as a corpse, but I'm guessing it's pretty likely..
posted by Orrorin at 11:14 PM on May 6, 2007

I'm too lazy to look up references at the moment, but I remember from college lectures that olfactory receptors are somewhat flexible in their ability to bind many different compounds. So the receptor that binds Component X of decay-smell may also bind Component A of cinnamon smell, and a few other things besides.

Anyway, if the cinnamon gets there first and sits on the receptors that bind it (and some components of decay-smell), those receptors are blocked and can't respond to the components of decay-smell until the cinnamon goes away. Our brains looks for a certain "fingerprint" of compounds to decide what we're smelling, and if certain compounds are not detected (because cinnamon is blocking those receptors) our brains say "Not decay-stink".

"On the idea of food subjectivity - I recently read an article where food scientists were testing various spices and tastes with widespread cultures. Apparently, in several parts of Africa where traditional foods are still heavily favored, natives had never tasted cinnamon before and reacted violently. Gagging and puking was witnessed, among those the could be convinced to try it. These peoples associated the very smell of the spice with meat gone bad - seriously poisoned fair that could not be saved by cooking.


I think it should be noted that Quietgal's extremely insightful speculation very neatly explains the observation Liosliath found in a post by Dunwitty.

Decay may well smell different in different places because of regional differences in the micro-organisms involved; cinnamon plants may have evolved their smell to deter feeding by the expedient of imitating the smell of decay in their original habitat.
posted by jamjam at 10:43 AM on May 11, 2007