Floral Scent Perception

Your result, the one DNA position behind it, and what the research says.

6/10 confidence.

About Floral Scent Perception

Beta-ionone is the molecule behind the scent of violets, and it turns up in raspberries, roses, tea, carrots and a great many perfumes. One receptor detects it, and this variant changes one building block of that receptor. The difference is unusually stark for a smell: people who carry the working form describe it as intense and pleasant, floral or fruity, while people who do not often report almost nothing, or something sour and vinegary instead. Two people can smell the same rose and disagree about what it smells like.

Good to know: Beta-ionone is the violet note in roses, raspberries, tea and many perfumes. One working copy is enough, so roughly half of people detect it strongly. Non-detectors often report a sour note instead of nothing at all.

Fun fact: Perfumers have long known that some customers cannot smell violet notes at all, and this single receptor is why.

Discovery: The link between this receptor variant and beta-ionone perception was reported in 2013 and has replicated repeatedly since.

The Variant

The single variant behind this trait

Gene: OR5A1

Variant (rsID): rs6591536

Location: Chr 11:59,443,715

dbSNP rs6591536

The studies

African Gene Flow Reduces Beta-Ionone Anosmia/Hyposmia Prevalence in Admixed Malagasy Populations (Razafindrazaka H et al., Brain sciences, 2021)

Other lifestyle traits

Sweetener Bitterness: A change in a third bitter receptor, studied for why some people taste a bitter edge in sweeteners.

Salt Taste: A change in the tail of the TRPV1 gene, studied alongside salt taste perception and how much salt people add.

Sense of Smell: A change next to APOE, linked in an older-adult study to how well people identify smells.

Back to All Traits

Content updated September 2026.

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