ABSTRACT
In Eastern cultures ambergris is used for medicines and potions and as a spice; in the West it was used to stabilize the scent of fine perfumes. Ambergris floats and washes ashore most frequently on the coasts of China, Japan, Africa, and the Americas and on tropical islands such as the Bahamas. Ambergris occurs in both male and female sperm whales, and also in the pygmy sperm whale. Ambergris contains alkaloids, acids and a main compound similar to cholesterol called ambrein which on oxidation produces two compounds called ambroxan and ambrinol. Of the three compounds only ambrein has the typical scent. Ambergris, is a metabolite of the sperm whale. It is extensively used in perfume industry as a fixative. It considered one of the most remarkable animal perfumes. The autoor photo-oxidative decomposition of ambrein, the major constituent of ambergris, gives the five important odoriferous products that play a key role in the characteristic odor of ambergris.
