"Semen and Sausage Smell the Same": A Forum User's Theory

Leche and Sausage: The Theory of Putrescine and Spermidine

Two substances that do not share origin, texture, or function might produce an almost identical olfactory perception, according to one forum participant. This is no mere casual conversation; some maintain that the coincidence rests on two specific compounds, putrescine and spermidine, which appear in both seminal fluid and fermented cured sausages.

Why do leche and sausage smell alike?

The explanation offered in the thread is chemical: according to this version, both substances release amines resulting from protein degradation, and the human olfactory system reads them as belonging to the same family of compounds. Nobody suggested it was a perfumery aroma.

The handkerchief test: half an hour is enough

The experiment described by a forum user does not require a laboratory. One only needs to use a tissue and leave it undisturbed for half an hour. After this time, according to his account, the smell is identical to that of freshly cut sausage. The timeframe matters: in this version, the aroma does not appear fresh because it is exposure to air that makes it emerge.

The test tube no one could identify

A case circulates as a high school anecdote: a student took a lab tube, sealed it with his own sample, and left it macerating for two days. He then passed it among classmates, asking what they smelled, and no one guessed correctly. The narrator does not recall if the smell resembled that of sausage; he only describes it as certainly nauseating.

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Casa Tarradellas, the salchichón, the tree that supposedly smelled like sausage: the conversation drifts toward folklore before returning to chemistry. With putrescine and spermidine on the table, how many everyday olfactory similarities do we attribute to chance when there might be a common metabolic pathway behind them?