PROFILE
As in all great, long-standing organizations, it is easy and tempting to refer to the many people who have contributed to one’ s history as being“ part of its tapestry,” every strand important and contributing to the beauty and success of the whole. And then there is Subha Patel.
In her nearly 40 years with International Flavors & Fragrances( IFF), this woman of humble beginnings and boundless curiosity has arguably contributed – and continues to contribute – more than her fair share to our legacy. As director of IFF’ s Nature Inspired Fragrance Technology, it is her job to discover and reveal nature’ s secrets, helping us share them with the larger world through the artistry of our perfumers. Over the course of her career, she has been able to do so in some surprising and groundbreaking ways. But before I go any further, let’ s briefly turn back the clock.
Subha’ s childhood in Kenya gave her many gifts, not the least of which is her deep love and appreciation for nature and how its beauty is expressed- particularly in the aromas of flowers. Like many of us, her memories of can be unlocked through her sense of smell; the jasmine of her mother’ s garden, the coffee of her father’ s business. What she could not have known as a young girl in Kenya is how the power of scent would carry her into a remarkable career.
In 1973, with an education in organic chemistry and botany from her college in Western India and her new husband in tow, Subha stepped onto the tarmac at JFK airport in New York to start her new life. After a number of positions in several companies, including The Rockefeller University, she was recruited by IFF, joining the analytics lab in 1978.
“ Before joining IFF, I had never worked in any commercial industry. I was scared stepping out of my academic comfort zone. But the people at IFF made it a home and I am still here.”
She quickly began her vast list of contributions to her new“ home” – starting with the computerization of the lab for her team and creation a cohesive information ecosystem that allowed Subha and her colleagues to focus on their core work. It was around this time that her attention began to shift to the study of living plants and their fragrances. For example, her team was recognizing that there was a difference between the aroma of living flowers vs. what was captured through traditional fragrance extraction methods. But how to prove it? They developed a groundbreaking tool – a glass dome able to slip over a living flower – that allowed them to collect and analyze the fragrance molecules of the living bloom. The team soon had the proof they were looking for, confirming their suspicions about the compositional differences. It also set IFF on the path to its signature“ Livings” approach to fragrance development – still very much in use today and a key part of the IFF fragrances library.
“ Having our IFF Botanical Gardens opened the doors to new opportunities to explore, take risks and really try to understand Nature and bring it to table for IFF’ s creative teams. Newness from Nature is right under our noses. We( humans) try to look farther than our nose to
“ Over the years, I have learned that all the experiences and lessons we( humans) have had and learned-- nature already knows them. Every day, walking through to the IFF Botanical Gardens, I learn, see or experience something new. It is truly amazing as there are countless opportunities out there in Nature that we have not even begun to touch. Amazing Nature!” find answers. Deep dive into nature and one will find the answers.”
The technology that brought about the Livings collection opened the door to other areas of exploration. Now that the team could analyze what was previously an ephemeral and uncapturable experience, they did so with abandon. Then they noticed something strange. The aroma molecules captured at one point in the day would be markedly different at another time of the day. Was it an issue with the scientists? Their tools? Neither, it turned out. What Subha and her team discovered is that plants, like people, have a natural biorhythm with ebbs and flows of their chemical signals.
The team went on to discover more about the secrets held by the plant world. And then on to another experiment that made the world sit up and take notice.
In 1998, Subha’ s team, led by Dr. Braja Mookherjee( then director of global natural products), let their imaginations run to the cosmos with what is arguably one of the most famous experiments in the fragrance world. The team hypothesized that there would be a measurable effect on the fragrance of a rose exposed to microgravity for a period of time. Working with the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation Robotics, the experiment was designed for execution on NASA’ s Space Shuttle mission STS-95, launching on October 29, 1998. They selected a fragrant miniature rose plant, dubbed“ Overnight
18 FRAGRANCE NOTES SUMMER / FALL 2017