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{{Short description|Class of aromatic substances used in perfumes}}
{{About|the musk odor|the businessman|Elon Musk|other uses}}

[[File:Naturalists Library - Mammalia - Volume III - The Thibetian Musk.jpg|thumb|Musk deer of Tibet in an 1835 illustration]]

'''Musk''' is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as [[base note]]s in [[perfume]]ry. They include [[gland]]ular secretions from animals such as the [[musk deer]], numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar [[odor]]s.<ref name=Merriam>{{cite web | url = http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/musk | title = Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: ''musk'' | publisher = [[Merriam-Webster]] | access-date = 2007-04-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first = Pierre |last = Chantraine | title = Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque | publisher = Klincksieck |year= 1990 | page = 715 | isbn = 2-252-03277-4}}</ref> ''Musk'' was a name originally given to a substance with a strong odor obtained from a gland of the musk deer. The substance has been used as a popular perfume [[Fixative (perfumery)|fixative]] since ancient times and is one of the most expensive [[animal product]]s in the world. The name originates from the Late Greek μόσχος 'moskhos', from Persian ''mushk'' and [[Sanskrit]] मुष्क muṣka ({{literal|testicle}})<ref>{{OEtymD|musk}}</ref> derived from [[Proto-Indo-European]] noun ''múh₂s'' meaning "mouse".<ref name=Merriam/><ref>{{cite book | first = Pierre |last = Chantraine | title = Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque | publisher =  Klincksieck |year= 1990 | page = 715 | isbn = 2-252-03277-4}}</ref> The deer gland was thought to resemble a [[scrotum]]. The term is applied to various plants and animals of similar smell (e.g., [[muskox]]) and has come to encompass a wide variety of aromatic substances with similar odors, despite their often differing [[chemical structure]]s and molecular shapes.

Natural musk was used extensively in [[perfumery]] until the late 19th century when economic and ethical motives led to the adoption of [[synthetic musk]], which is now used almost exclusively.<ref name=Rimkus>{{cite book | title = Synthetic Musk Fragrances in the Environment (Handbook of Environmental Chemistry) | first = Gerhard G. (Ed.)| last = Rimkus |author2=Cornelia Sommer | chapter = The Role of Musk and Musk Compounds in the Fragrance Industry |publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 3-540-43706-1 }}</ref> The [[organic compound]] primarily responsible for the characteristic odor of musk is [[muscone]]. There are several ways of preparing the commercial musk, and the best method is to dry the pod by sunning and airing immediately after it is taken from the animal. Natural musk is usually packed in hermetically-sealed vessels and wooden boxes lined with tin foil because of its powerful diffusion of odor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Musk: Its Pharmacological Action and Therapeutic Uses |s2cid=39494684 |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9c90/f101ddaec25fc0575236d54eb0b4fcdee7a3.pdf}}</ref>

Modern use of natural musk pods occurs in [[traditional Chinese medicine]] which, save for specially exempt drugs, uses a synthetic version of undisclosed composition created in 1994. The process was given [[State Science and Technology Prizes|State Science and Technology Progress Award]] First Class in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=迟来的大奖 人工麝香终获国家科技进步一等奖--科技--人民网 |url=http://scitech.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0108/c1007-28030166.html |website=scitech.people.com.cn|language=zh|trans-title=Late grand award; artificial musk finally receives State Science and Technology Progress Award First Class}}</ref>

==Sources==

===Deer===
{{main|Musk deer}}
[[File:Primary Form of Musk.jpg|thumb|A musk pod, obtained by killing a male [[musk deer]]]]
The musk deer belongs to the family [[Moschidae]] and lives in [[Tibet]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Historical Section of the Foreign Office (Great Britain)|title="Tibet". Handbook (No. 70)|series=Handbooks... No.70|date=19 June 2021|publisher=H M Stationery Office (1920)|hdl=2027/uc1.32106000253184?urlappend=%3Bseq=72v|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.32106000253184?urlappend=%3Bseq=72v}}</ref> [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]], [[China]], [[Siberia]], [[Mongolia]], [[Manchuria]], [[Korea]] and [[North Vietnam]].

The musk pod, a [[preputial gland]] in a pouch, or sac, under the skin of the abdomen of the male musk deer, is normally obtained by killing the male deer through traps laid in the wild. Upon drying, the reddish-brown paste inside the musk pod turns into a black [[granular material]] called "musk grain", which is then tinctured with alcohol. The aroma of the [[tincture]] gives a pleasant odor only after it is considerably [[:wikt:dilute|dilute]]d. No other natural substance has such a complex aroma associated with so many contradictory descriptions; it is usually described abstractly as animalistic, earthy and woody<ref name=Rimkus/> or something akin to the odor of baby's skin.<ref name=Kraft/>

Musk has been a key constituent in many perfumes since its discovery, being held to give a perfume long-lasting power as a fixative. Today, the trade quantity of the natural musk is controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ([[CITES]]), but illegal [[poaching]] and trading continues.<ref name=Kraft>{{cite book | title = Chemistry and Technology of Flavours and Fragrances | first = David J. (Ed.)| last = Rowe |author2=Philip Kraft |author2-link=Philip Kraft | chapter = Chapter 7. Aroma Chemicals IV: Musks | publisher = Blackwell | isbn = 0-8493-2372-X | year = 2004}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|File:Moschustier.jpg|''Moschus moschiferus'', [[Siberian musk deer]]
|File:Musk 1616.jpg|"Musk-cat", woodcut from ''Hortus Sanitatis'', 1491
}}

===Other animals===
[[File:Ondatra zibethicus FWS.jpg|thumb|right|''Ondatra zibethicus'', the [[muskrat]]]]
[[Muskrat]] (''Ondatra zibethicus''), a rodent native to [[North America]], has been known since the 17th century to secrete a glandular substance with a musky odor.<ref name=Groom/> A chemical means of extracting it was discovered in the 1940s, but it did not prove commercially worthwhile.<ref name=Groom>{{cite book | title = New Perfume Handbook | first = Nigel | last = Groom | pages = 219–220 | publisher = Springer | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-7514-0403-9 }}</ref>

Glandular substances with musk-like odors are also obtained from the [[musk duck]] (''Biziura lobata'') of southern [[Australia]], the [[muskox]], the [[musk shrew]], the [[musk beetle]] (''Aromia moschata''), the [[African civet]] (''Civettictis civetta''), the [[Sternotherus odoratus|musk turtle]] (''Sternotherus odoratus''), the [[American alligator]] of [[North America]],  lynx musk, ''lungurion'' which, in antiquity, was highly valued, and from several other animals.

In [[crocodile]]s, there are two pairs of musk glands, one pair situated at the corner of the jaw and the other pair in the [[cloaca]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Elsevier's Dictionary of Herpetological and Related Terminology | first = D.C. |last = Wareham | publisher = [[Elsevier Science]] | year = 2005 | isbn =0-444-51863-0 | page = 129}}</ref>

===Plants===
{{NIE Poster|Musk Plant}}
Some plants such as ''[[Angelica archangelica]]'' or ''[[Abelmoschus moschatus]]'' produce musky-smelling macrocyclic lactone compounds. These compounds are widely used in perfumery as substitutes for animal musk or to alter the smell of a mixture of other musks.

The plant sources include the musk flower (''[[Mimulus moschatus]]'') of western North America, the muskwood (''[[Olearia argophylla]]'') of Australia, and the musk seeds (''[[Abelmoschus moschatus]]'') from India.

==Synthesis==
{{main|Synthetic musk}}
[[File:Galaxolide.svg|thumb|[[Galaxolide]], a polycyclic musk commonly used in [[laundry detergent]]s to mask the smell of the detergent chemicals]]
Since obtaining the deer musk requires killing the [[Endangered species|endangered animal]], nearly all musk fragrance used in perfumery today is synthetic, sometimes called "white musk". They can be divided into three major classes: aromatic nitro musks, polycyclic musk compounds, and macrocyclic musk compounds.<ref name=Rimkus/> The first two groups have broad uses in industry ranging from [[cosmetics]] to [[detergent]]s. The detection of the first two chemical groups in human and environmental samples as well as their carcinogenic properties initiated a public debate on the use of these compounds and a ban or reduction of their use in many regions of the world. Macrocyclic musk compounds are expected to replace them since these compounds appear to be safer.<ref name=Rimkus/>

==Fragrance and flavorant==
Musk is often associated with religious significance. In [[Islam]], musk is considered to be the most fragrant of the scents. It was widely used by the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] and his companions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sunnah.com/search?q=musk |title=Archived copy |access-date=2022-04-06 |archive-date=2022-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120092050/https://sunnah.com/search?q=musk |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Alexander the Great]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Griffith |first=Sidney |date=2021 |title=The Narratives of "the Companions of the Cave," Moses and His Servant, and Dhū 'l-Qarnayn in Sūrat al-Kahf |url=https://lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/jiqsa/article/view/2056 |journal=Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association |volume=6 |pages=137–166|doi=10.5913/jiqsa.6.2021.a005 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> is also said to have perspired the odor of musk.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ySfaaQJ-BV0C&dq=musk++alexander+the+great&pg=PA86|title=The Scent Trail: An Olfactory Odyssey|first=Celia|last=Lyttelton|date=February 18, 2008|publisher=Bantam|isbn=9780553815498 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85vsO1x-RCQC&dq=alexander+the+great+smell+musk&pg=PA55|title=A Practical Guide for the Perfumer: Being a New Treatise on Perfumery the Most Favorable to Beauty Without Being Injurious to the Health, Comprising a Description of the Substances Used in Perfumery, and the Formulæ of More Than One Thousand Preparations ...|first=Hippolyte|last=Dussauce|date=February 18, 1868|publisher=H. C. Baird: London, Trübner & Company|via=Google Books}}</ref> Popular scents in Arab Muslim tradition include [[jasmine]], [[amber]], musk and oud ([[agarwood]]).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MImdEAAAQBAJ&dq=musk+oud+arab+culture&pg=PT75|title=QATAR (EN ANGLAIS) 2023/2024 Petit Futé|first1=Dominique|last1=Auzias|first2=Jean-Paul|last2=Labourdette|date=November 23, 2022|publisher=Petit Futé|isbn=9782305096186 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Musk has been used to attract wild animals, including in man-made perfume mixtures. For example, in 2018 Indian authorities used the perfume ''Obsession'' by [[Calvin Klein]] to attract and thus trap a wild tiger that had attacked and killed more than a dozen humans.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Calvin Klein's Obsession Could Be The Trick To Catching A Tiger |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/10/14/657238908/calvin-kleins-obsession-could-be-the-trick-to-catching-a-tiger |website=NPR |date=14 October 2018 |access-date=18 October 2018 }}</ref>

[[Musk stick]]s, which are artificially flavoured with a substance that is reminiscent of musk perfume, are a popular [[confection]] in [[Australia]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kriewaldt |first=Kit |date=2019-03-31 |title=Love it or hate it, the musk stick is one of Australia's most misunderstood treats |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-31/musk-sticks-are-one-of-australias-most-hated-foods/10953712 |access-date=2025-05-18 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Androstenol]]
*[[Civetone]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{EB1911|wstitle=Musk|volume=19|page=90}}

==Further reading==

* Borschberg, Peter, "[https://www.academia.edu/4303041 O comércio europeu de almíscar com a Ásia no inicio da edad moderna - The European Musk Trade with Asia in the Early Modern Period]", ''Revista Oriente,'' 5 (2003): 90-9.
* Borschberg, Peter, "Der asiatische Moschushandel vom frühen 15. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert", in ''Mirabilia Asiatica'', edited by J. Alves, C. Guillot and R. Ptak. Wiesbaden and Lisbon: Harrassowitz-Fundação Oriente (2003): 65–84.

[[Category:Perfumery]]
[[Category:Olfaction]]
[[Category:Perfume ingredients]]