Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Environment

Why bearcats smell like popcorn

Asian mammals produce a molecule found in cooked popcorn that they likely use to communicate, although some think the creatures smell more like Fritos corn chips

by Matt Davenport
April 25, 2016 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 94, Issue 17

[+]Enlarge
Credit: Shutterstock
Bearcats smell like popcorn, thanks to the compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline in their urine.
A picture of a bearcat with the structure of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline.
Credit: Shutterstock
Bearcats smell like popcorn, thanks to the compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline in their urine.

The animal kingdom now harbors one fewer mystery. Researchers have ferreted out why the binturong, a threatened Southeast Asian mammal also known as the bearcat, smells like popcorn. The culprit is 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, or 2-AP, the same molecule that gives cooked popcorn its aroma. Researchers led by Christine M. Drea of Duke University and Thomas E. Goodwin of Hendrix College found the compound by examining urine samples from 26 bearcats using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Sci. Nat. 2016, DOI: 10.1007/s00114-016-1361-4). The team observed 2-AP in each urine sample, from males and females alike, Drea notes. The researchers also found that 2-AP concentrations correlate with androstenedione levels in a bearcat’s blood. Androstenedione is a hormone precursor to both estrogen and testosterone, leading the researchers to posit that bearcats use their urinary popcorn smell to communicate their sex and sexual maturity. This discovery does present a new mystery though: How do bearcats make this molecule? Popcorn gives off 2-AP via the Maillard reaction as a consequence of the high heat of cooking. “But nobody’s heating the binturongs up to hundreds of degrees,” Goodwin says. The team speculates that microbes may help the animals produce the aroma.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.