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The effect of eating asparagus on one's urine has long been known. Marcel Proust claimed that asparagus "...transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume." Certain constituents of asparagus are metabolized giving urine a distinctive smell due to various sulfur-containing degradation products, including various thiols, thioesters, and ammonia.[16] Derivatives of asparagusic acid are also found in urine. The speed of onset of urine smell has been estimated to occur within 15-30 minutes of ingestion.[17] All individuals produce the odorous compounds after eating asparagus, but only about 40% of the population have the autosomal genes required to smell them.[18][19][20]