The authors concluded that some cultivars had sufficient quantities of scent organic compounds that the flowers could be harvested by the chemical industry for perfumes, air fresheners, toothpaste and more. Here is their summary:
- No detectable aroma: Cultivars: Carina, Joker, Red Magic, Etched Salmon, Lovely Rose and Fairy Princess
- Light fragrance with nonobvious aroma: Cultivars: May Lilac, Roselette, Red Charm, Prairie Moon, Cytherea, Scarlet O’Hara, Coral Sunset, Old Rose Dandy.
- Moderate aroma: Cultivars: Sorbet, Sarah Bernhardt, Lemon Chiffon, Lian Tai, Zhong Sheng Fen, Gao Gan Hong, Zi Feng Yu
- Intense Fragrance: Duchess de Nemours (rose fragrance), Cream Delight (lily frag), Going Bananas (lily frag with slight fruity and woody scent), Yang Fei Chu Yu (Orange blossom frag.), Zhu Sha Pan (orange blossom frag.), Qiao Ling (rose frag.).
- The Cultivars, Lemon Chiffon, Cream Delight, Old Rose Dandy and Going Bananas have a distinctive lily scent which is attributable mostly to a compound called linalool. Coincidentally, this chemical is the predominant aroma in Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis). It is used to produce essential oils and other flavors. And by the way, they are all yellow peonies.
- The cultivars, Sarah Bernhardt, Sorbet and Duchess de Nemours all had a rose scent with the main compound being (R)-citronellol. This compound is used in the production of perfumes, essences, spices, flavored foods and rose tea.