AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 262, Issue 1 99-104, Copyright © 1992 by American Physiological Society
Quantitative analysis on odor intensity and quality of optical isomers in turtle olfactory system
M. Taniguchi, M. Kashiwayanagi and K. Kurihara
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
No systematic electrophysiological study on differences in odor intensity
and quality between optical isomers has been carried out. In the present
study, we measured the turtle olfactory bulbar responses to six pairs of
highly pure optical isomers and compared the differences in odor intensity
and quality between the optical isomers. The results obtained indicated
that with all odorants tested, there was no difference in odor threshold
and intensity in the whole concentration range examined between optical
isomers. The difference in odor quality of optical isomers was evaluated by
a quantitative cross-adaptation method in which odorant concentration was
varied. The degree of cross adaptation between optical isomers greatly
varied with species of odorants. The rank order of the magnitude of the
differences in odor quality between optical isomers was carvone greater
than beta-citronellol greater than menthol greater than hydroxycitronellal
greater than citronellal greater than limonene.
