Musk

Sources

Deer

Main article: Musk deer

The musk deer belongs to the family Moschidae and lives in Tibet, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea and North Vietnam.

The musk pod, a preputial gland in a pouch, or sac, under the skin of the abdomen of the male musk deer, is normally obtained by killing the male deer through traps laid in the wild. Upon drying, the reddish-brown paste inside the musk pod turns into a black granular material called "musk grain", which is then tinctured with alcohol. The aroma of the tincture gives a pleasant odor only after it is considerably diluted. No other natural substance has such a complex aroma associated with so many contradictory descriptions; it is usually described abstractly as animalistic, earthy and woody or something akin to the odor of baby's skin.

Musk has been a key constituent in many perfumes since its discovery, being held to give a perfume long-lasting power as a fixative. Today, the trade quantity of the natural musk is controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but illegal poaching and trading continues.

|File:Moschustier.jpg|Moschus moschiferus, Siberian musk deer |File:Musk 1616.jpg|"Musk-cat", woodcut from Hortus Sanitatis, 1491

Other animals

Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), a rodent native to North America, has been known since the 17th century to secrete a glandular substance with a musky odor.

Glandular substances with musk-like odors are also obtained from the musk duck (Biziura lobata) of southern Australia, the muskox, the musk shrew, the musk beetle (Aromia moschata), the African civet (Civettictis civetta), the musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus), the American alligator of North America, lynx musk, lungurion which, in antiquity, was highly valued, and from several other animals.

In crocodiles, there are two pairs of musk glands, one pair situated at the corner of the jaw and the other pair in the cloaca.

Plants

Some plants such as Angelica archangelica or Abelmoschus moschatus produce musky-smelling macrocyclic lactone compounds. These compounds are widely used in perfumery as substitutes for animal musk or to alter the smell of a mixture of other musks.

The plant sources include the musk flower (Mimulus moschatus) of western North America, the muskwood (Olearia argophylla) of Australia, and the musk seeds (Abelmoschus moschatus) from India.

Synthesis

Main article: Synthetic musk

Since obtaining the deer musk requires killing the endangered animal, nearly all musk fragrance used in perfumery today is synthetic, sometimes called "white musk". They can be divided into three major classes: aromatic nitro musks, polycyclic musk compounds, and macrocyclic musk compounds. The first two groups have broad uses in industry ranging from cosmetics to detergents. The detection of the first two chemical groups in human and environmental samples as well as their carcinogenic properties initiated a public debate on the use of these compounds and a ban or reduction of their use in many regions of the world. Macrocyclic musk compounds are expected to replace them since these compounds appear to be safer.

Fragrance and flavorant

Musk is often associated with religious significance. It appears in Buddhist, Hindu and Sufi texts and poetry. Kabir uses a musk deer parable that describes a deer smelling a beautiful scent that it searches for everywhere, unaware that the fragrance comes from its own navel. This parable symbolizes people's mistaken search for God or truth outside when it already resides within. In Islam, musk is considered to be the most fragrant of the scents. It was widely used by the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions. Alexander the Great is also said to have perspired the odor of musk. Popular scents in Arab Muslim tradition include jasmine, amber, musk and oud (agarwood).

Orchid paired with musk is a recurring scent combination associated with women's clothing and bedchambers in classical vernacular Chinese literature.

Musk has been used to attract wild animals, including in man-made perfume mixtures. For example, in 2018 Indian authorities used the perfume Obsession by Calvin Klein to attract and thus trap a wild tiger that had attacked and killed more than a dozen humans.

Musk sticks, which are artificially flavoured with a substance that is reminiscent of musk perfume, are a popular confection in Australia.

Notes

References

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3. {{OEtymD. musk
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19. . (14 October 2018). ["Calvin Klein's Obsession Could Be The Trick To Catching A Tiger"](https://www.npr.org/2018/10/14/657238908/calvin-kleins-obsession-could-be-the-trick-to-catching-a-tiger).
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