Why Do Books Have a Distinctive Smell? This is the scientific explanation

JAKARTA – Books have a distinctive aroma. This special smell will be felt as soon as the plastic seal of the new book is opened. This aroma will get stronger when the book pages are opened one by one. A distinctive smell will also appear on old books.

The distinctive smell of books makes some people wonder where it comes from. The X account @wennyreads tries to share the reasons why books have a distinctive aroma.

“Paper comes from wood which is pulverized into pulp and then printed and pressed into sheets. For this reason, paper as a raw material for books also has the same properties (including several chemical compounds) as wood,” wrote @wennyreads in his upload statement.

He explained that of the many chemical compounds in wood and paper, there are two compounds, namely cellulose and lignin. The cellulose compound is very complex so there is lignin as a binding compound so that the wood can stand firmly.

According to the Pew Research Center, as we get older book , the chemical compounds used, such as glue, paper, ink, begin to decompose. When all the chemicals come together, they release volatile compounds that give off a characteristic aroma. A common scent in old books, according to the International League for Antiquarian Booksellers, is vanilla.

“Lignin, which is found in all wood-based paper, is closely related to vanillin. “As it decomposes, lignin produces a faint vanilla aroma in old books,” wrote the International League for Antiquarian Booksellers.

Chemists call it benzene or aromatic compound. When this compound is separated from the complex compound, it will become aromatic, aka fragrant. These aromatic compounds are what cause the distinctive smell of old books.

Meanwhile, brown spots on paper appear due to a chemical process called oxidation of lignin. Oxidation is a chemical reaction caused by oxygen. There are three components that indicate the oxidation process that causes brown spots to form, namely air, water and light.

(msf)