SC - Asparagus smell

[Robbin Long]

>I'm sure I have this information somewhere, but the bottom line is that
>everybody's urine has this chemical in it after eating asparagus, but
>not everyone has the gene that enables them to smell it. You, like me,
>are what Harold McGee has referred to, in the section of "On Food and
>Cooking" that deals with this, a stinker. ;  )
>
>Adamantius

You may be only half correct.  Current thinking suggests there may be two genes - one controlling the ability to break down the mercaptans (or aspargusic acid - the identity of even the compound is subject to active debate) in the asparagus to create the smell in the urine, and the other to be able to detect the smell.  So, even though you may be a "stinker", you may not be a "smeller".  You would have to have both genes to be able to your own urine.  This also explains why some folks are more offended by the smell of someone who has had a heavy garlicky dinner, while others don't seem to notice - the same basic compounds are at work (the same ones, incidentally that make skunks stink).  

Boy, bet no-one suspected that they were bringing up cutting-edge biochemical research here, did they?  Your research dollars at work...

Broinnfhionn
(biochemist and endless reservoir of gross trivia)



Robbin L. Long, Plant Physiologist
USDA-ARS, SRRC
1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd.
New Orleans, LA  70124
(504) 286-4352 phone
(504) 286-4419 fax
rlong at srrc.ars.usda.gov