The frequency of occurrence and discriminatory power of compounds found in human scent across a population determined by SPME-GC/MS

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2007 Feb 1;846(1-2):86-97. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2006.08.039. Epub 2006 Sep 29.

Abstract

The composition of human scent collected from the hands is of interest to the medical community as a mechanism to diagnose disease and the forensic community as a means to investigate canine scent discriminations. An extensive survey of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) identified in the headspace of hand odor samples utilizing solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS) has been conducted to determine the constituents of the human base odor profile. Sixty-three compounds were extracted from the collected odor samples. The composition included acids, alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, esters, ketones and nitrogen-containing compounds. The majority of the compounds detected (79.4%) were present in less than one third of the individuals sampled. Spearman correlation coefficient comparisons at a match/no-match threshold of 0.9 produced a distinguish ability of 99.67% across the population.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Chromatography, Supercritical Fluid / methods*
  • Female
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Hand
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Odorants*