Jasmine: Calming (07-06-10)

We now have a better idea why people purchase so many jasmine plants each year and wear so many jasmine-based perfumes.  Researchers have determined that the smell of jasmine has the same effect on humans as prescription medications that reduce anxiety.  Landscape architects creating calming gardens and people scent-scaping indoor environments can use jasmine in their practices to soothe people who will be in the spaces they are developing.

Olga Sergeeva, Olaf Kletke, Andrea Kragler, Anja Poppek, Wiebke Fleischer, Stephen Schubring, Boris Goerg, Helmut Haas, Xin-Ran Zhu, Hermann Luebbert, Guenter Gisselmann, and Hans Hatt.  “Fragrant Dioxane Derivatives Identify B1 Subunit-Containing GABAA Receptors.”  The Journal of Biological Chemistry, in press.