Made some awesome asparagus soup tonight - WTF is with that smell?

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Scientists in general agree that the odor likely comes from asparagusic acid, a compound that’s only found in asparagus (as the name implies). When the acid goes through our bodies’ digestive tracts, it gets broken down in several sulfur-based compounds. The volatile nature of these compounds means that they evaporate and turn into gas at room temperature. This can happen very quickly, perhaps only 15 to 30 minutes after one has eaten the vegetable. While sulfur gas tends to smell like rotten eggs, the sulfuric compounds found in asparagusic acid have been described as more akin to old cabbage.

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