The wood has a strong foetid smell, because of the presence of skatole.

The smell, caused by the chemical skatole, is enough to distinguish it from other yellow fungi.

As a result, skatole accumulates in the fat of male pigs as they mature.

The other major taint-causing compound, skatole, is also eliminated because the lower steroid levels allow the liver to more efficiently metabolise it.

Its chemical constituents include methyl anthranilate, indole, benzyl alcohol, linalool, and skatole.

Indeed, two of the foulest smelling amines found in sewage, indole and skatole, are actually used in making perfumes.

These enzymes convert skatole to a reactive intermediate, 3-methyleneindolenine, which damages cells by forming protein adducts (see fog fever).

The odor associated with flatus is due to hydrogen sulfide, skatole, indole, volatile amines and short chain fatty acids.

Slaughter at the standard six month age can help reduce the presence of skatole based boar taint and adrostenone based taint.

Boar taint is caused by the accumulation of two compounds - androstenone and skatole - in the fat of a minor number of male pigs.

This is due to the presence of skatole, also known as methyl indole or methylated indole, another possible product of tryptophan degradation.

By using perfume formulations lacking the indole and skatole components, then, the nasty odors of sewage can be absorbed in the combined scent and effectively eliminated.

In domestic pigs the taint, called boar taint, is caused by androstenone and skatole concentrations stored in the fat tissues of the animal after sexual maturity.

Gut flora produce compounds such as indole, skatole, and thiols (sulfur-containing compounds), as well as the inorganic gas hydrogen sulfide.

This is because the two natural substances that cause boar taint - androstenone and skatole - only start to accumulate in the fat of male pigs when they sexually mature.

Androstenone (a male pheromone) is produced in the testes as male pigs reach puberty, while skatole (a byproduct of intestinal bacteria, or bacterial metabolite of the amino acid tryptophan) is produced in both male and female pigs.

Just a harmless mixture of materials like butyl mercaptan, butyric acid, methanethiol, skatole, cadaverine, putrescine ... well, yes, the organic binder did have penetrative properties; if you got a few drops on your skin, the odor wouldn't disappear for a week or two . . . The screams reached me first.

When left on the tongue, the anaerobic respiration of such bacteria can yield either the putrescent smell of indole, skatole, polyamines, or the "rotten egg" smell of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) such as hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, Allyl methyl sulfide, and dimethyl sulfide.

Single synthetic compounds are commonly used as bait to attract and collect males for study, and include many familiar flavorings and odors considered appealing to humans (e.g., methyl salicylate, eugenol, cineole, benzyl acetate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate), and others which are not (e.g., skatole).