06/05/2026
New studies show that Patchouli Essential Oil can work for up to 3 hours to ward off mosquitoes 🦟.
Health - The Epoch Times
HEALTH NEWS
Summer is coming, which means mosquito season is soon upon us. While synthetic insect repellents are still considered the gold standard, concerns about skin irritation and environmental effects have fueled growing interest in natural alternatives.
A study found that patchouli oil may be just as effective as standard insect repellents.
How It Works
The findings, published in ACS Omega, showed that patchouli oil added to a lotion carrier provided complete protection against mosquitoes for up to three hours.
Patchouli oil’s earthy scent appears to work by blocking mosquitoes’ ability to detect human skin, effectively acting like an “invisibility cloak,” according to study lead author Lizandra Lima Santos, a chemist at the Federal University of Amapá in Brazil.
Previous plant-based repellents, such as citronella and eucalyptus, appear to work in a similar way, but they tend to lose their smell more quickly.
Patchouli oil has the same limitation, but Santos’ team solved it by mixing the oil with an unscented cream base, creating a stable lotion that retains its scent over time.
Volunteers ages 20 to 35 placed their arms into cages containing 50 hungry Aedes aegypti mosquitoes for 30 minutes. The test ran for three hours across six 30-minute intervals, with researchers recording every landing and bite. A commercial DEET-based repellent served as the benchmark for comparison.
