As people’s habits and lifestyles change, odours also change. It is possible to trace the dynamics of these changes through odour. In today’s world, our sense of smell is manipulated as every sense is manipulated. On the other hand, fragrance acts as a key that opens from the material world to the spiritual world. We talked to Vedat Ozan about odour, its history and change.
What does our sense of smell basically do?
One of the reasons why the creature we call human has survived until today is smell. It never happens with only one sense. Without smell, there is no way that the creature we call human could have survived until today. Biologically – I am not saying socially, pay attention to this point – the sense of smell plays a very important role in choosing the right mate. The sense of smell is important for our reproduction and nutrition. Let me open a parenthesis about reproduction: It is a biological evaluation. Today, we do not make choices based on biological evaluations. We have become social creatures. Our mate selection parameters are social parameters. We do not look at whether the genetic structure is suitable. We do it based on social parameters such as whether we think the same, read the same books, go to the same cinema. When we get down to the basics, the sense of smell is the reason why this species we call human has survived until today.
Our genetic structure is different from each other and the reflection of our genetic structure in the social environment is our body odour. Body odour is our biological identity like our fingerprint.
Our body odour carries signals of our genetic make-up. In order to make the right match and produce a healthy next generation, we receive the signals of the right genetic structure through the sense of smell. It is not a conscious thing. It is not something we are directed unconsciously, not as ‘let’s look at the smell and see what the genetic structure is like’.
This is the result of all blind tests performed today. When you smell only the smell of the person without seeing the person and his/her picture, and when you are asked which one is the most attractive, when you look at the genetic structure of the selected attractive smell, it turns out that it is really the most suitable genetic structure for reproduction. The genetic structure must be distant. When two individuals come together, the more different and distant their genetic structures are, the higher the chances that the child to be born will survive and continue this chain.
The sense that dominates our nutrition is the sense of smell. When we talk about the relationship between smell and nutrition, we usually think of the following: ‘I am very interested in smell and food, I always smell my plate before eating, I open the lid of the pot in the kitchen and smell it’. This is not the case.
Smell is a dual-channel sense. We smell with our nose and from the outside, and we smell through the palate. Sweet, salty, bitter, sour, sour, umami, which we call the sense of taste, cannot give us information outside the five lanes. The sense of taste is important, but not enough to make a definition. We cannot distinguish whether we are eating apricots or oranges based only on sweetness. The retronasal canal, that is, the odour we smell through the palate, gives us the opportunity to identify what we eat and drink. We use the name of the sense of taste in the act of eating and drinking. We say, ‘I tasted it, it is a very good peach’. There are no peach receptors on our tongue. With our eyes closed and the fruit in our mouth, because both can have the same amount of sugar. Make a dessert from 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 kilo of milk. You can make custard or keshkkül. The basis is two tablespoons of sugar. Since they all have the same two spoons of sugar, from the point of view of our sense of taste, custard, rice pudding and keşkül should be the same. But they are all different from each other. What makes that difference is the odour we smell on the palate.
During the Covid period, people said, ‘The smell is gone, the taste is gone’. Actually, the flavour was not gone. The taste was still there. We realised whether we were eating sour or salty, but that was all. We got used to using the word taste instead of flavour. Instead of saying the flavour was gone, we were saying the taste was gone. In fact, we couldn’t smell the smell coming from the palate. If we plug our nose and drink, the warning comes from there. We are not aware that the sense of smell has 90-95% importance in nutrition.
We think that the sense of smell is important until the food is in our mouth. After the mouthful enters our mouth, the sense of smell is finished. That’s where it really starts. There is the sense of sight outside. Peach or orange? Even if you can’t smell or taste, you recognise it visually. There is no eye in the mouth anymore. The sense you use the most is left outside. Therefore, we make a definition through the sense of smell. After identification, a journey we call pleasure or enjoyment begins. This is a feature that distinguishes us from other living things. The retronasal canal, i.e. olfaction through the palate, is much more developed in humans than in other living things. Dogs smell very well from outside, their palatal olfaction is not as developed as humans. Dogs go for meeting the need in nutrition. We humans, on the other hand, feed on the concept of flavour. Humans are the only creatures in the world that continue to eat after they are full. Dogs do not even look at their favourite food when they are full. But man continues to eat even when he is full. We say we are not full, but the reward centre in the brain is triggered, we continue, and then we gain weight.
There are many products and services that affect our behaviour through smell. Therefore, the sense of smell is used industrially in abundance. When it comes to odour, perfume comes to mind first. However, perfume is 8%-9% of the world fragrance market. There is a huge world of fragrances, which we often use and consume without realising that they are fragrances. For example, fifty percent of the market is made up of what we call ‘aroma’, which is the smell on the palate. In addition, products such as soaps, detergents and shampoos, i.e. the remaining forty per cent of the market, contain fragrances. These odours do not enhance the function of the products, but influence our purchasing decisions.
When we look at the sense of smell, it seems to be a little behind compared to hearing and sight. For example, we say deaf, dumb and blind, but we cannot say anything about those who do not smell. There are visual arts and auditory arts, but there is no such field as the art of smell.
Since we do not have a language for smell, it is difficult to talk about smell. There are five basic senses and smell is the only one that does not have a language of its own. When you want to describe something related to smell, you have to use borrowed definitions from other senses because they do not have their own words. For example, you say ‘a soft smell’, whereas soft is something related to the sense of touch, not to smell. ‘It smells sweet’, but sweet is something related to the sense of taste. When this is not enough, we try to describe it with analogies: ‘like freshly cut grass’ or “like soil after rain”. We describe it with the ingredient itself: ‘it smells like an apple’, “it smells like a pear”.
Therefore, since there is no language for odour, we have no word for the state of odourlessness. Before Covid, most people were not even aware of the state of odourlessness. Odourlessness actually has a name that is not in Turkish. There is something we call anosmia; ‘osmos’ means odour in Greek, ‘a’ is a negative suffix indicating absence, so it means ‘odourlessness’. Anosmia existed before Covid, but only a small part of the population was experiencing this problem. With the pandemic, it was felt very much, that is, there was a loss of smell. In all languages, there is a language gap, a word gap related to the sense of smell. This is called ‘olfactory verbal gap’ in English.
The main reason for this is the difference between the region in our brain where the signals from our sense of smell are processed and the region that produces language. They cannot fully communicate with each other both in terms of the time of activation in our lives and physical distance. But the fact that we cannot talk about it does not mean that the sense is unimportant, it only shows that we are not aware of its importance.
The pandemic was a new milestone for the sense of smell. Because with the pandemic, it was discovered that smell and odourlessness had a monetary value. Apart from perfume, people realised that they were ready to pay for something related to smell. They said, ‘I have Covid, I can’t smell, so what should I pay so that there will be a cure for this’. When there was a monetary equivalent, people became more interested. Before Covid, when you asked people, ‘You have to give up one of the five senses, which one would you give up?’, everyone said sense of smell without hesitation.
Odours are nowadays also used for manipulation. What are the limits of this manipulation? For example, what can we do with a scent? Today, for example, it has a wide range of uses, from shopping centres to pepper spray.
Not the smell in pepper spray. In other words, capsaicin, which is used in pepper spray, is a material extracted from the fruit we call red pepper. It does not necessarily have to be extracted from the fruit. It can also be produced synthetically. It smells, but it is not the smell that makes it burn your eyes. Just like the smell of onion does not cause tears. There are other molecules rising with the smell of onion. They bring tears to our eyes. As you say, a scented product causes a reaction, but the reason for that reaction is not its smell. When Saddam bombed Halabja, he also used chemical weapons. There was a smell of apples everywhere. Children ran out of the house saying ‘mummy, it smells of apples’. They suffocated and died. The reason there was not the smell of apples. So another molecule is poisoning there. That could be the cause.
Now you can manipulate so many things. You can manipulate the perception of time. You can manipulate the perception of value. You can manipulate the size of the space by using odour. There is no reason why you cannot do the manipulations you can do in all senses in the sense of smell. In other words, if I wanted to make this place look higher, I would raise this ceiling, the paint on this wall, up to this plasterboard. If the wall could have the impression that it was bigger. If I had given this place a scent that evokes greenery, open air, we would have perceived the place we were sitting in as more spacious than it was. It is possible to manipulate everything through odour.
For example, how does it manipulate time?
Manipulating time is like this. When you let in a fresh scent that you are convinced will not bore people, people perceive the time they spend as shorter than it is. He goes to the store, spends an hour. You ask him how long he’s been in there, he says he’s been in there for twenty minutes, for example. Now his wallet is full, he spends a lot of time inside, this is a very good thing for the store, it increases the possibility of sales. It increases the possibility of spending money very much.
Spices and odours have a close relationship. How did the spice trade and thus the trade in fragrances develop capitalism?
There are many different spices. There are cloves, chillies, ginger. When you eat them while your nose is stuffy, there is no way to separate them from each other. Therefore, these are all odorous substances. The spice trade is actually one of the cornerstones of the capitalist system we live in today. There are two big international companies trading in spices between 1600 and 1800: The British East India Company and the Dutch United East India Company. With these two companies, institutions such as the stock exchange, joint stock companies, forward sales markets, employment agencies, central banks, etc. emerged for the first time.
There is an understanding that the industrial revolution is the cause of capitalism, but what we call the industrial revolution only points to technical changes. We can only enter the capitalist system when we place those technical changes on top of the elements I have mentioned. The modern slavery we are experiencing today, that is, not being locked up and not being made to work, feeling free but having to work, is becoming widespread in the pursuit of the spice trade. If we don’t work, we starve and die.
It was during this period that Columbus travelled to America in pursuit of the spice trade, mistakenly thinking that he was going to India, the sugar trade there, the lack of sufficient people, bringing people from Africa, and slaves as one leg of the famous trade triangle. Throughout history, there have been three main groups of goods traded internationally: human/slave trade, textile/fabric trade and spice/fragrance trade. With the evolution of these, we enter the capitalist system we live in. When we leave the trade in fragrances out of this business, we cannot get to where we are today. Because these companies and the market institutions I have mentioned are things that emerged in the pursuit of the trade in fragrances.
How much space does fragrance occupy in the global capitalist system today?
In terms of monetary size, it is estimated that the size of the fragrance raw material market will be approximately 26-27 billion dollars next year. In the products in which raw materials worth 26-27 billion dollars are included, raw materials are sometimes used at a rate of 2 per thousand, 3 per thousand. In other words, when you buy a soap or a fabric softener, you may not even find 1 per cent of it. Therefore, the raw material is 26 billion dollars, but when you consider the product market in which this raw material is included, we reach incredible figures.
Today, Arab brand perfumeries have opened in many parts of Istanbul. When we hear an intense oud odour, we say it is like Arab perfume. We match the smell with the nation. Is there a Turkish scent that has been identified with us throughout history?
The trade in odorous substances has travelled through these lands. But it did not leave a very big trace. There are a few small things in the palace, such as frankincense water, but these are limited to the palace. There has never been as big a fragrant trace here as in the Arab geography.
Why did a big trace remain there?
The Arab geography played an important role in the trade of scented substances. However, the limited number of fragrant plants in this region and the presence of only a few types of resins caused this geography to remain limited in the production of fragrant substances. For this reason, the Arab geography usually acted as an intermediary for the products coming from the original sources of scented substances such as India. Especially in the trade network from India to the Roman Empire, Arabs played an important role. The Roman Empire is known to have been the largest consumer of these substances at one point in history, and many advanced technologies, such as caravans and methods of transporting goods, were developed for the logistics of this trade.
A hot climate is another factor affecting the spread of odours. Odours are composed of volatile molecules and temperature increases the volatility of these molecules, allowing odours to spread faster. Therefore, warm environments help odours to become more pronounced. For example, we use refrigerators to prevent food from rotting because the temperature changes the molecular structure and accelerates the decay process. In this context, the hot climate of the Arab geography facilitated the spread of odours.
The traces of this historical relationship of the Arab geography with odorous substances have deepened the region’s familiarity with and trade in fragrances. Throughout history, the Arabs have played an important role in the trade of spices and fragrant substances, and fragrant practices in this region have been influential in a wider geography. The first wife of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is recognised as one of the key figures in this trade, emphasising the Arab geography’s connection with scented substances.
How does fragrance take place in Turkish culture?
In Turkish folk customs, scented substances are often used as part of daily life. For example, substances such as black cumin seed and rose water are widely used. However, the tendency to use scent as a special product is generally limited and associated with beliefs. Although applications such as frankincense are seen in palaces, among the people on the street, odours are more of a natural part of daily life. For example, the smell of roasting something. The tendency to produce and use fragrance for the sake of fragrance has remained weaker among the people. Palaces, on the other hand, tend to use the richest products that appeal to the senses.
We also use rose water. One advantage of rose water is that it is supported by belief systems. For example, the use of rose water has been widely encouraged with statements such as ‘Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) sweat would smell like roses’. When cologne came to the areas where rose water was used, it provided a great advantage. While cologne contains alcohol, rose water is water-based. Alcohol evaporates quickly and spreads the smell into the air, so when the person using cologne walks, it leaves a distinct smell behind.
Rose water, on the other hand, does not have this effect; its odour does not spread immediately when one walks. The production of rosewater depends on the roses; therefore, it has to wait for the season, a specialised person is required for its production and it must be kept well, otherwise it may spoil. Cologne, on the other hand, is more durable thanks to alcohol and can be easily produced with various fruits or plants. Since cologne does not carry the risk of spoilage, it is practically easier to use. Cologne has become very common in palaces and among the public. Rose water was mostly used in traditional and religious practices.
Is there a tendency regarding the preference of fragrance in the Ottoman palace?
As the period progresses, of course, as the idealised culture shifts towards French culture, some things emerge. But for example, cologne, for example, is not a French product. Cologne is already the name of the city of Cologne, you know. The favourite product of Sultan Abdülhamid’s daughters was cologne. At that time, an entrepreneur known as Farina had applied to establish a cologne factory here.
Cologne is very popular with us. We keep it in the fridge. The incoming guest is offered, cold cologne is offered. There is probably no such cologne culture elsewhere in the world.
Cologne already cools. When I say cools, it already takes the heat. It gives a coolness at first. It also provides some benefit. They think it will ward off the evil eye. Some say, I don’t know, I use it instead of antiseptic medicine. There are many uses. Basically, but the smell is pleasant. It has a fresh, fresh smell.
Recently, personality and character analyses have started to emerge through smells. Do these have any validity?
Smell is not a field that can be talked about, I said at the beginning that it does not have a language. Since nature does not accept emptiness, many legends have emerged about smell. For example, there are claims such as odour according to zodiac signs or odour according to personality; however, these are not based on scientific grounds. What really matters is which scent makes you feel comfortable. The scent that you like and that relaxes you is the most suitable scent for you. Factors such as temperament or zodiac sign have nothing to do with scent.
Does every century have a smell or can our time have a smell? As a metaphor, the 19th century smells like blood and iron.
I didn’t look at it from this point of view, but our time is one of the times that make the smell the most difficult. We live in a concretised age; it might have been different when we were more intertwined with the soil. Because vegetation also changes over time. For example, some cultures create calendars according to the odour in their environment. The natives of the Andaman Islands recognise the smell of the flowers blooming in their environment as the season. Today, the smells we smell on the street are constantly changing depending on the dynamics of the environment we live in.
For example, there were iron workshops in Karaköy when I was a child; in the 90s, the neighbourhood was filled with hipster cafes and hamburger shops. This olfactory change over a lifetime shows that our environment is changing rapidly. With the advent of the internet and technological advances, things are changing even faster. Therefore, it has become very difficult to stabilise odours over long periods of time. Maybe even 10-year periods are too long now.
If we take the Industrial Revolution, the smells of mechanisation, steam and textiles stand out in this period. Odours related to chemical production are also important in this period. However, even different neighbourhoods of Istanbul smell different from each other nowadays. Places such as Halkalı, Üsküdar, Sultanbeyli and Levent each have their own unique odours. This is an indication of how fast the environments and time are changing.
What would you like to say about the relationship between scent and technology?
Efforts to incorporate artificial intelligence into perfume design are quite common. For example, there are efforts to use the parameters of the consumer audience and the data of perfumes made throughout history to produce the fragrances that this audience would like the most. This approach, however, may uniformise the perfume world. However, perfume is used to differentiate and express itself. Therefore, this contradiction between the use of technology and data is striking.
Technology has made significant advances, especially in the fields of chemistry and biology. These advances are also reflected in perfume production, because without chemistry and biology it is difficult to design a perfume.
Recently, interest in perfume and especially niche perfume has increased. On the other hand, those who sell imitation perfume are also increasing.
Niche is actually an architectural term. It means a cavity in the wall. What does this mean? You create a recognisable small space in a flat surface. This is actually a niche. But the increasing interest in niche perfume actually destroyed niche perfume. Because everyone tried to fit into that cavity so much that this time the cavity became mainstream. So it became the wall itself. Currently, it is only called niche perfume as a marketing definition. No matter what, when you stick a niche perfume label on it, people feel as if they are buying something more privileged. There is a problem in that respect.
On the issue of imitation, of course, this is something very related to the economy. Imitation perfume has always existed, but I see that it has increased incredibly, especially recently, because people can no longer afford original perfumes. If you look at a bottle of original perfumes, it starts from 4-5 thousand liras, and instead of buying it, I will give 300 liras because I will use something that looks like it. We are one of the most successful countries in the world producing imitation fragrances.
Changes in our consumption habits and people getting tired of visual messages. In the past, newspapers, magazines and then television. Television is also over. Now there are platforms. Platforms are also over. There is the internet. We are now exposed to visual messages even on the devices we carry in our pockets. Therefore, trying to express oneself through a different emotion probably makes it possible for people to differentiate a little more. Of course, there has been such a development in marketing. In other words, a field called sensory marketing, which we call sensory marketing, has emerged, which is trying to market a number of things by using other senses other than sight.
Is there such a thing as a bad smell turning into a good smell or a good smell turning into a bad smell?
For example, the change in access to hot water has also affected the perception of odour. In the past, it was normal to bathe in hot water once a week, whereas today it has become a common habit to shower every day. Such changes over time also affect the perception of odour. In the past, there was no concept of bad odour in an environment where everyone smelled bad, because this odour was considered normal. Today, in an environment where individuals who wash frequently live, the odours that exist with old habits can be quite disturbing.
The social meanings of odours change over time. For example, the patchouli plant was originally used as a moth repellent in Southeast Asia, and precious fabrics travelling to Europe were protected by wrapping them in patchouli leaves. When the fabrics arrived in Europe, the scent of patchouli was associated with luxury and wealth, as the plant did not occur naturally in Europe. In this way, patchouli became the scent of wealth and prestige. Over time, however, patchouli odour was adopted by different social groups. For example, prostitutes began to use this odour. In cities where lighting was not fully developed, these people needed various methods to emphasise themselves and their presence. In Oscar Wilde’s novel ‘The Portrait of Dorian Gray’, the scent of patchouli was used for one of the characters, but for this reason it was changed by censorship.
In the 1970s in America, patchouli incense became popular among hippies to suppress the smell of cannabis. The same plant acquired different meanings in different geographies and periods. In India, patchouli incense became the characteristic scent of flower children. In Turkey, it is known as the favourite scent of Said Nursi and his followers. While the patchouli plant naturally produces this scent to protect itself from pests, this scent has acquired many meanings in social and cultural contexts. The meanings of odours are not fixed and change over time. For this reason, odours, like other cultural and social phenomena, should be seen as a dynamic and transforming phenomenon.
Finally, I would like to ask about the relationship between coffee and smell. Is there a relationship between the increase in 3rd generation coffees and the sense of smell in the taste of coffee?
3rd generation coffee production aims to enrich the coffee experience by highlighting the more distinct aromatic profiles of coffee beans. Whereas medium-quality coffees, such as traditional Turkish coffee, often have an over-roasted odour profile, 3rd generation coffees use more balanced roasting methods to bring out more of the bean’s natural aromatic characteristics. This makes a marked difference to the taste and smell of the coffee.
Aromatic elements are directly related to the smell of coffee. The relationship between coffee flavour and smell varies depending on the roasting time of the coffee beans. The longer the roasting time, the more bitter the coffee tastes. Bitter is a taste profile that we usually reject as an innate reflex because it indicates potentially toxic substances. However, some bitter flavours, such as coffee and olives, become acquired tastes over time. It is a phenomenon known as ‘acquired taste’.
The smell of coffee plays an important role in this process. When your nose is blocked, it can be difficult to enjoy the flavour of coffee. However, when your nose opens, you can better perceive the various flavours of coffee, which can increase the enjoyment of coffee. Some chemical components in coffee can be effective in relieving fatigue and this also supports the revitalising effect of coffee. The smell of coffee becomes a representation of these effects; just smelling it can increase alertness.
The relationship between coffee and smell is an important part of the coffee experience. 3rd generation coffees can be seen as an endeavour to explore this relationship more deeply and offer consumers a more sophisticated coffee experience. Other bitter flavours, such as olive and olive oil, go through a similar process; they are initially rejected, but over time they become appreciated.