Ambrein: a minor, but common constituent of mammalian faeces?

Abstract

For nearly 200 years, the only natural source of the alcohol, ambrein, has been coproliths produced in about 1% of sperm whales and in related jetsam. However, the finding of ambrein in adipocere/faeces of human corpses, led us to hypothesise that ambrein might occur in the faeces of other mammals.Herein, we used a recently developed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method, with suitable derivatisation of the hindered hydroxy group of ambrein, to screen a number of extracts of mammalian faeces.Minor proportions of ambrein were detected in digested human sewage sludge and in the dung of elephant, domestic cattle, giraffe and buffalo, as well as the faeces of a sperm whale. Whether ambrein formation in the terrestrial species is associated with coprolith formation, is unknown, but solid deposits known as enteroliths and fecaliths occur in humans and some domestic animals.

Comparative Analyses Reveal the Genetic Mechanism of Ambergris Production in the Sperm Whale Based on the Chromosome-Level Genome

“…Ambrein is a tricyclic triterpene alcohol that could be the main contributor to the special odor of ambergris [11,12]. In addition, as its name implies, coprosterol is well known to occur in animal feces, and both coprosterol and epicoprosterol are steroids that are presumably formed from cholesterol [13]. Nowadays, the use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) makes it easy to analyze the identities and quantities of substances occurring in ambergris [10,14], while the circumstances that induce the production of ambergris are poorly understood and have seldom been validated.…”