What makes flowers smell sweet? Are there any particular chemicals that are released into the surrounding air? If so, which part of the flower is responsible?
1 Answer
The petals of some flowers have some oils in them.
These oils give flowers their fragrance. The oils are developed as the plant grows. The oils are very complex substances. Under certain conditions the oils are broken down, making it volatile(can be easily evaporated).
When the oil evaporates, it lets out the fragrance we can smell. The type of fragrance comes from the various chemicals in the oil. Each flower has its own combinations of chemicals in the oil; this gives each flower a distinct smell.
The oils not only are found on the petals of flowers, but also on the bark of trees, roots, fruits and seeds.
For example, oranges and lemons have them in their fruit, almonds in their seeds and cinnamon in its bark.
We still extract some scents used in perfumes from the petal's of flowers.
Hope this helped! Please recheck the information; because I'm only 14 so this might not be entirely factual.
