What gives p**p its awful smell and colour?

Question

Simple question, right? But what makes p**p smell like p**p? Despite the fact that all poops smell different, its fair to say that the smell of p**p is unmistakable and therefore there must be something in common that poops share that causes that poopy smell, especially given since the foods consumed are vastly different between one person and another.

I also wanted to know what gives p**p its generally dark brown colour. With the mixture of foods that one eats, I would have imagined it to have been black or dark green. Again, it must be some element that all poops have in common?

Ideas?

Answer 1

Why does p**p stink?

    p**p stinks as a result of the products of bacterial action. Bacteria produce smelly, sulfur-rich organic compounds such as indole, skatole, and mercaptans, and the inorganic gas hydrogen sulfide. These are the same compounds that give farts their odor.

  

Why is p**p brown?

   The color comes mainly from bilirubin, a pigment that arises from the breakdown of red blood cells in the liver and bone marrow. The actual metabolic pathway of bilirubin and its byproducts in the body is very complicated, so we will simply say that a lot of it ends up in the intestine, where it is further modified by bacterial action. But the color itself comes from iron. Iron in hemoglobin in red blood cells gives blood its red color, and iron in the waste product bilirubin gives rise to its brown color.

Compliments of smellypoop.com :)

Answer 2

ask Jeeves!