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Updated: Mar 14, 2026

A Free-breathing fMRI Method to Study Human Olfactory Function
Published on: July 30, 2017
The (+)-cis- and (+)-trans-Olibanic Acids: Key Odorants of Frankincense
Céline Cerutti-Delasalle1, Mohamed Mehiri2, Cecilia Cagliero3
1Albert Vieille SA, 629, route de Grasse, 06227, Vallauris, France.
Abstract:
Frankincense (olibanum) is one of the oldest aromatic materials used by humans, but the key molecular constituents contributing to its characteristic odor remained unknown. Reported herein is the discovery that (1S,2S)-(+)-trans- and (1S,2R)-(+)-cis-2-octylcyclopropyl-1-carboxylic acids are highly potent and substantive odorants occurring in ppm amounts in all of the frankincense samples analyzed, even those showing radically different volatile compositions. These cyclopropyl-derived acids provide the very characteristic old churchlike endnote of the frankincense odor.
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