What Causes Age-Related Body Odor? 2-Nonenal, Explained (J Invest Dermatol)
What causes the change in body odour people notice after 40? The compound has a name: 2-nonenal. In a 2001 study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology (Haze et al., PMID 11286617), researchers analysed body odour from volunteers aged 26 to 75 and detected 2-nonenal only in subjects aged 40 or older: an unsaturated aldehyde with a greasy, grassy smell, formed as skin fats oxidise with age. This is a single, small study rather than proof that everyone over 40 smells the same, and it does not measure menopause specifically. It is the study that persimmon-tannin products are designed around, because those tannins bind and neutralise the compound.
Where this fits: The Persimmon Soap Fix: What Actually Kills Menopause Odour
Claims this source supports
- 2-Nonenal, an unsaturated aldehyde with an unpleasant greasy, grassy odour, was detected only in subjects aged 40 or older (headspace GC/MS analysis of body odour, ages 26-75; Haze et al., J Invest Dermatol 2001, PMID 11286617).
- The increase in 2-nonenal with age is linked to oxidative degradation of unsaturated fatty acids in skin; this is the compound persimmon-tannin products are designed to bind and neutralise.