Asparagus: What's that smell?

by Nick Vagnoni, Posted Apr 28th 2006 @ 1:02PM

Last week, Nicole gave us the lowdown on asparagus: its background, nutritional value, and tips for buying and cooking it. Still, some of you asparagus lovers, or haters, may still be wondering, 'why does asparagus make my urine smell funny?' There may be some of you who say that it doesn't make your urine smell funny, and you may be right. According to an article by WebMD dietitian Elizabeth Somer, asparagus contains a sulfuric compound called mercaptan (asparagus.org lists a few other possible chemical culprits). When your body breaks mercaptan down into other components, the by-products create that distinctive bouquet. The same compound is found in rotten eggs, onions, garlic (asparagus is in the lily family too), and, yes, skunks. Some studies suggest that only certain people possess the gene necessary to break down asparagus and create the smell. Other research found that some people actually weren't capable of detecting the odor in various urine samples. So, maybe some of you are asparagus-proof, or maybe some of you just can't tell the difference.

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]

Filed Under: Science, Did you know?, Ingredients
Tags: asparagus, compound, did you know, odor, pee, smell, sulfur, sulfuric, urine, vegetables, webmd, why