Questionnaire on Mexicans' Familiarity With Odor Names

Our aim was to identify culture‐specific odors to design an olfactory assessment (identity and recognition, threshold, olfactory discrimination and memory tests) for Mexican population. A survey was made using 1,308 Mexicans. We asked them about their familiarity, preference and frequency with which they smelled 58 different kinds of odors. The most familiar odor names were guava, orange and lime, with orange, cinnamon and rose as the most preferred. Significant differences in familiarity were found between genders for some floral and spicy odors. Age and occupation were associated with people's ability to recognize floral, herbal, spicy, fruity and other odor names. Certain floral odor names are only familiar to people born in specific places. Overall, the variables age, gender and occupation had influence over the familiarity of odor names, with citrus as the most familiar scent for the Mexican population. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS We determined the most familiar and preferred scents to Mexicans, which will form the basis for designing a methodology suitable for olfactory assessment (identity and recognition, threshold, olfactory discrimination and memory tests) in this population, allowing the clinical use and study of correlation with chemoreception, chemosensory and chemical senses.