—Many studies have examined seed removal by rodents without regard to possible biases from inadvertent olfactory cues left by the researcher. I compared removal rates of seeds that had direct contact with human skin (scent treatment) with those that had no direct contact (no-scent treatment). Seeds of two species were alternated at 5 m intervals along a straight transect in a native grassland i...

Olfactory display devices have become a recent demand and trend in human computer interaction, providing a new member in the human computer interaction peripheral devices family. These devices enrich the olfactory sense for the user stimulating him/her by means of scent stimuli in correspondence to an object or an event shown on the visual display. Some researches have been done to cover the de...

Essential oils distilled from members of the genus Lavandula have been used both cosmetically and therapeutically for centuries with the most commonly used species being L. angustifolia, L. latifolia, L. stoechas and L. x intermedia. Although there is considerable anecdotal information about the biological activity of these oils much of this has not been substantiated by scientific or clinical ...

Because passerine birds have a very small relative olfactory bulb size, they have been considered to have weak olfactory capacities for decades. Recent investigations however suggest that breeding female blue tits (Parus caeruleus) are sensitive to lavender odour in the reproductive context of building and maintaining the nest. Here, we present results of an olfactory conditioning experiment in...

To trace the fate of individual pollen grains through pollination processes, we determined genotypes of single pollen grains deposited on Hemerocallis stigmas in an experimental mixed-species array. Hemerocallis fulva, pollinated by butterflies, has diurnal, reddish and unscented flowers, and H. citrina, pollinated by hawkmoths, has nocturnal, yellowish and sweet scent flowers. We observed poll...

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)extract as an alternative to flavophospholipol on performance, carcass characteristics, antioxidant status,meat quality, intestinal morphology and ileal microflora of broilers. A total of 220 day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were used in a completely randomized design with five treatments each re...

This study describes a presentation technique of scent designed for users to recognize multiple scents during a very short time period. We measured the olfactory characteristics of subjects when two kinds of scents were presented in a single breath. We defined and measured the minimum ejection interval in which subjects could discriminate the two individually emitted pulses of scent, which we t...

Can consumer knowledge that a scent is 100% composed of natural ingredients influence sensory perception of the fragrance? In the present study, 112 participants were asked to test and evaluate a floral fragrance. Prior to the test and the evaluation of the scent, half of the consumers were informed of the 100% natural origin of its components, while the other half were not provided with that i...

Computer-controlled scent output technologies have a history dating back nearly 50 years. However, it’s only in the last few years that such systems have become easy to use and readily available, fueled by the emphasis on multimedia technologies from the internet and dot.com boom and by the increasing prominence of fragrance in everyday life. The key advantage of computer-controlled output, in ...

1. The evolution of flowering plants has undoubtedly been influenced by a pollinator's ability to learn to associate floral signals with food. Here, we address the question of 'why' flowers produce scent by examining the ways in which olfactory learning by insect pollinators could influence how floral scent emission evolves in plant populations. 2. Being provided with a floral scent signal allo...