Camelia Bhattacharyya, Amity University Kolkata
The smell is one of the most used senses used in the animal kingdom for different purposes including food, mating, etc. While animals are attracted towards other animals inside or sometimes outside their speciation, human beings use smell as a symbol of luxury and to hide their natural body odor. A few days back at the beginning of March a woman from Thailand, Siriporn Niamrin had found whale vomit worth 1.9 million dollars and since then its use in the perfume industry is under conversation. It’s not just the vomit of the whale that is used in the perfume industry, but several other animal products are also in the use of the same. This is why the industry faces criticism, black-marketing, and other controversies more often. Following are a few of them:
Ambergris (the whale vomit):
Ambergris is a type of coprolite or food mixed with secretion from the bile duct and is found in the intestine of the sperm whale and most often vomited out by the animal. This substance is thick, musky, and possesses a very sweet smell. This has the capability of floating in the sea for as long as thousands of years and is thus worth millions. This product is also under a lot of criticism due to the fact that previously people would kill the creature to get it and today this species is endangered, thus prohibiting the buy or sell of ambergris in most places over the globe. The product is rich in lipids thus helping its molecular studies. The endogenous DNA is sustained even after thousands of years. It is highly flammable and soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, and certain oils used in perfumes thus making it perfect as a component to be used in perfumes. Other than in perfumes, it has also found a place in the medicine and spice industry. Like some branded wines, ambergris too improves in quality, smell, and cost with age, i.e., the old it is the better it’s considered to be. Amazing isn’t it, how a substance produced by an animal for its own need is used by humans for its luxury? Well, that’s how it has always been.
Civet, Hyraceum, Castoreum, and Musk (anal secretions):
Civet cats produce a buttery-yellow substance while defecating and this product produces floral scents after dilution and are used in the perfumery.
Speaking of animal excreta, another animal that comes to mind is the Rock hyrax producing hyraceum, a hard solid fecal waste petrified for hundreds of years to be used in the perfume industry. This solid is a storehouse of phytochemicals like terpenoids, saponins, polyphenols, quinones, phlobatannins, coumarins, etc. ensuring its use for medicinal purposes too.
The Beaver has castor sacs between their pelvis and tail. These sacs contain castoreum which gives a leather-themed scent and is highly used in perfumery. Due to Salicylic acid being one of its major components, castoreum is often used in medicines.
Yet another glandular secretion used for making perfumes is the musk secreted from the Musk deer. These secretions have a strong smell and have been widely used in perfumery till the 20th century after which the use reduced.
Conclusion and future perspectives:
Other animal products used in perfumery include milk, honey, etc. There have been a lot of experimenting with scents and an expanding business on the vast use of the scents in different concentrations. But is it necessary to harm animals for human luxury? While some of these can be naturally available, most often harming animals for business is seen to be practiced. Few of these scents can also be produced chemically or from plant extracts which saves the animals from being endangered. These types of artificial and plant-extract-related techniques should be used irrespective of the hype on using real animal products. Experimenting needs to be redirected in an animal-friendly way to ensure the safety of these species since at the end of the day the idea should be to co-exist not to kill and exist as the only species because that is anyway not possible.
Also read: COVID-19 to soon face 2 new drugs
Source:
- https://www.dnaindia.com/viral/report-vomit-worth-rs-2-crore-woman-finds-most-expensive-puke-ever-in-history-2879036
- Rowland SJ, Sutton PA, Knowles TDJ. The age of ambergris. Nat Prod Res. 2019 Nov;33(21):3134-3142. doi: http://10.1080/14786419.2018.1523163.
- Macleod R, Sinding MS, Olsen MT, Collins MJ, Rowland SJ. DNA preserved in jetsam whale ambergris. Biol Lett. 2020 Feb;16(2):20190819. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0819.
- https://unicorngoods.com/blogs/blog/whats-hiding-in-your-perfume-hidden-animal-ingredients-in-designer-perfumes
- https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/5-icky-animal-odors-that-are-prized-by-perfumers
- Magama S, Rant’s O, Asita AO, Taole M. Evaluation of Procavia capensis hyraceum used in traditional medicine for antioxidant activity. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research. 2018 Jul;12(19):248-257. doi: 10.5897/JMPR2018.6590
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