Why does fresh marjoram taste like soap or detergent to some people?

[AnitaRL]

I bought some fresh marjoram plants from the nursery and today I harvested a little for my soup. Even when I was harvesting it, I could smell a very strong soapy odour. I figured, once it's in the soup, it'll go away. Alas, the soup now tastes as if I forgot to rinse the detergent off my dishes and cutlery properly.

As you can see on the following website, I'm apparently not the only person to have experienced this! The Spice : Savage Chickens – Cartoons on Sticky Notes by Doug Savage

But why is it that fresh marjoram tastes like soap????

[Alison]

Dunno, tastes lovely to me and not at all soapy, how odd

[Jardiniere]

my children always used to call fresh coriander 'washing up leaves' because to them it tasted detergenty....dont get it myself .........but marjoram just tastes like oregano to me (!!!???)

[AnitaRL]

I think I've figured it out (or at least found an answers that makes a little bit of sense).

Looks like it’s not marjoram that tastes like soap, but actually soap that tastes, or rather smells, like marjoram.

After some research I found out, that apparently “Marjoram’s fragrance is still prized by perfume and soap makers” and “Sweet marjoram was used as a room freshener and is used to scent lotions, soaps and creams”.

Phew…I can finally rest assured, that it’s not my taste buds that have gone nuts….

[OllieMartin]

Your original post reminds me of the asparagus wee paradox:

Asparagus will make some people's wee smell funny, but not others. It's a genetic difference as to whether it affects the smell. But...
Only some people can smell it!
So if you think you're not affected by the asparagus wee syndrome, it might be that you are, but just can't smell it.

[Hilary B]

I always reckon avocado tastes like soap.....(very expensive soap, but still soap!)