Quote:
Originally Posted by Taskmaster
No way. Say it isn't so.
|
PDF]Smelly feet - Australian Podiatry Association
"
The quality of foot odor is often reported as a thick, cheese-like smell. Some describe the smell like that of malt
vinegar. However, it can also be
ammonia-like.
Brevibacteria are considered a major cause of foot odor because they ingest dead skin on the feet and, in the process, convert
amino acid methionine into
methanethiol, which has a
sulfuric aroma. The dead skin that fuels this process is especially common on the soles and between the toes. The brevibacteria is also what gives
cheeses such as
Limburger,
Bel Paese,
Port Salut,
Pálpusztai and
Munster their characteristic pungency.
[2]
Propionic acid (propanoic acid) is also present in many foot sweat samples.[
citation needed] This acid is a breakdown product of
amino acids by
Propionibacteria, which thrive in the ducts of adolescent and adult
sebaceous glands. The similarity in chemical structures between propionic acid and
acetic acid, which share many physical characteristics such as odor, may account for foot odors identified as being vinegar-like.
Isovaleric acid (3-methyl butanoic acid) is the other source of foot odor and is a result of actions of the bacteria
Staphylococcus epidermidis[3] which is also present in several strong cheese types.
Other implicated micro-organisms include
Micrococcaceae,
Corynebacterium and
Pityrosporum.
[4]
Bart Knols, of Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands, received an "
IG Nobel" prize in 2006
[5] for showing that the female
malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae "is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger cheese and to the smell of human feet".
[6]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_odor