Thanks to two readers of our blog, we have some more information related to our last post.

Click on this link to read about Geosmin, one of the molecules that plays a role in petrichor. In fact, its name is derived from the Greek words ‘Earth’ and ‘smell’.  Another interesting point, the human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion. Geosmin is responsible for the muddy smell in many freshwater fish ; Geosmin breaks down in acidic conditions and becomes odourless, hence vinegar and other acidic ingredients are often used in recipes to cook these fish. Thanks for all this info, Oinks.

And this link is about a fragrance called ‘mitti attar’ made in Kannauj, which captures that refreshing energising fresh smell of wet mud after the rain. Thanks for sharing this article, Ruks. This article that is quoted in the earlier one mentions one fascinating factoid , albeit unrelated to petrichor. Apparently after the Empress Mumtaz Mahal passed away, Shah Jehaan never wore perfume again , attars had been one of the couple’s shared passions.

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Zenobia