According to Webster's dictionary, a perspective is "...the aspect in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed." Thus, this paper is dealing in the first place with a vision. However, in order to be credible, a vision has to be based on the analysis of actual studies, tools and trends. Therefore, quite an extensive discussion of current approaches and instruments is given here, and yet the presented vision is far from complete.
Application segments will only be quickly mentioned and a few remarks added about application-oriented developments and about raw materials here. The size (turnover-wise at the end of the 80s) of the four application segments was as follows: fine fragrance (20% of the total), cosmetics and toiletries (25%), soaps and detergents (40%), and household and industrial products (15%). These segments are here to stay, anad even their size will increase over the 90s at a comparable rate--in reality by a few percent every year if everything goes well.
New raw materials will be specifically designed in view of their application in a given segment, and new and old applicaiton-oriented parameters of raws materials will be precisely determined. Such paramenters are, for example, substantivity and water-solubility, which are to some extent interdependent and have to be carefully balanced for specific applications in the four segments; biodegradability which mainly plays a role for household and industrial products and for soaps and detergents; deodorant efficacy which is mainly important for cosmetics and toiletries, etc.
However, for the sake of concentration, our focus is on the message: Progress in understanding the mechanisms of olfaction will add new dimensions to the intellectual space in which creativity can take place.
