Smell That Smell!

What does the nose know? Researchers have categorized the 10 basic types of odors humans can sense. The 10 elements they’ve determined are woody smells (like grass and pine), sweet scents (like chocolate and vanilla), florals and perfumes, citrus fruits, non-citrus fruits, minty smells (including eucalyptus), toasted, nutty scents (like peanut butter and popcorn), and three separate categories for unpleasant odors like gasoline, sour milk and rotten meat. Experts say complex scents can usually be described by combining two or more of these elements. It's also well know that the sense of smell is one of the most powerful memory triggers. For Jacklyn it's petroleum products, for John pine trees. Other callers this morning talked about fresh baked bread, burnt matches, even the smell of freshly ironed clothes!