Kao Corporation, the Japanese beauty conglomerate, has unveiled new technology that can analyse more than 400 human olfactory receptors.
The Molton Brown-owner’s Sensory Science Research Laboratory discovered the receptors by successfully expressing them on the surface of cultured cells.
The division has now established ScentVista 400, a technology that comprehensively analyses how olfactory receptors respond to odorants.
“In order to investigate how humans sense odours, it is necessary to ascertain how olfactory receptors respond when they recognise odorants,” said Kao Corporation in a statement.
“Because direct experimentation within the human nose is not feasible, researchers commonly use cultured cells instead to express olfactory receptors.
“In the nose, these receptors are present on the cell surface, where they can recognise odorants.
“In cultured cells, however, olfactory receptors often fail to localise to the cell surface and remain inside the cells instead, where they cannot detect odorants.”
The beauty conglomerate added that only around 10% of human olfactory receptors have been studied successfully to date.
To address this low figure, Kao Corporation developed a technology in 2023 that allows olfactory receptors to be expressed on the cell surface.
It was able to identify an olfactory receptor that detects musk scent notes, with the same technology being used to analyse and identify the 400 olfactory receptors.
Kao Corporation’s aim is to “advance understanding of the human sense of smell”.
The company added in a statement: “These findings suggest the potential to transform the perception of unpleasant odours originating from people, clothing or living environment into pleasant ones through modification of response patterns using new fragrances with excellent deodorising effects.
“This technology may allow the same odorant response patterns to be achieved using fewer and smaller quantities of fragrance raw materials.
“Kao remains committed to deepening its understanding of the nature of the sense of smell and to creating fragrance experiences that bring joy to consumers around the world.”
Kao Corporation is not the only company researching how human olfactory receptors work, with flavours and fragrance brand giant Givaudan also unveiling its analysis into how noses detect and recognise scents in October.
The research into scent receptors uncovered 20 specific human odour receptors, revealing the natural scent molecules that activate these receptors.
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