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. 2019 Jun 20;20(12):3018. doi: 10.3390/ijms20123018

Figure 8.

Figure 8

Olfactory receptor (OR) responses to odorants. Humans have approximatively 396 olfactory receptors (OR 1, OR 2, OR 3, etc.). A single olfactory receptor is able to recognize different odorant molecules. As an example, OR 1 is able to recognize molecules A, B, and C (d). The identification of a particular odorant is caused by the activation of a group of receptors with a special pattern (a, b, and c). For example, odorant A is recognized by OR 1 and OR 2 as a banana flavor (a). Molecule B is, in turn, recognized by OR 1 and OR 3 and identified as an orange flavor (b). Also, two distinct molecules can be recognized by the same receptors and identified as having the same odor (a and c). Indeed, odorant C is also recognized by OR 1 and OR 2 as a banana flavor (c).