Why do some herbs smell or have a distinct scent? For example basil is losing eugenol, which creates the scent as far as I got to googling, but why is this chemical wasted and how is it created? Is it a byproduct of something? The basil sold in stores still has that scent and there are no inflorescence, so I don’t think it’s about attracting pollinators and thus reproducing. Why does this happen with some plants?
Sorry if I butchered some terms, non-native speaker here. Thanks for replies!
In: 1
All plants are in a fight for survival against things that want to eat the plant – not just macroscopic herbivores like deer or rabbits, but molds and bacteria and insects (and their larvae) and such. Against large predators plants can maybe get away with *physical* defense, like hard shells or bark, or spikes – but against microscopic invaders, they have to resort to *chemical* defense.
Basically all plants have some cocktail of chemicals or another they use to gas or poison attackers. Some of these chemicals, by chance, happen to be the right shape to fit into a *human* protein, even if we’re not the one’s they’re targeting. Depending on exactly what protein it fits into and what happens afterwards, we might call that chemical “herbal medicine” or “poison”… or if they activate taste receptors, then a “spice” or “herb”.
Basil makes eugenol because mosquitos hate it, but it happens, for some reason or another, to smell good to us.
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