Researchers have discovered the key ingredient in human body odor that may be particularly attractive to mosquitoes. And interestingly, this ingredient leads us all the way to cheeses.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and School of Medicine collaborated with the Macha Research Foundation in Zambia in a study published in Current Biology to find out which traits in various human body odors are more appealing to mosquitoes.
A 20 meter by 20 meter screened cage was used to contain hundreds of African malaria mosquitoes, according to the study. Despite their name, the mosquitoes did not have malaria, CNN first reported on the study.
There were eight single-person tents at the facility. These tents were attached to the cage so that different human body odors could reach the mosquitoes safely.
The researchers found that mosquitoes gravitate towards human body odor with “increased relative abundance of volatile carboxylic acids,” including butyric acid. Butyric acid is a fatty acid that people produce in their guts, but it’s also found naturally in “hard cheeses” like parmesan, milk, yogurt, and cream and butter, according to a separate study published in the National Library of Medicine. The acid can also be found in some fermented foods, such as sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers, according to the study.
In the other direction, the Johns Hopkins and Mach researchers found that mosquitoes were less attracted to body odor that was devoid of carboxylic acids and was “enriched with the monoterpenoid eucalyptol.” According to the American Chemical Society, eucalyptol; It can be found in tea tree oil and hemp sativa.
As PubChem notes, this compound is also widely used in mouthwashes and cough suppressants.
Edgar Simulundu, one of the study’s co-authors, said in an interview with CNN, “This finding opens up approaches for the development of baits or repellents that can be used in traps to disrupt mosquito host-seeking behavior, so that in areas where the disease is endemic, the malaria vector can be used in traps to disrupt mosquito host-seeking behavior.” “It opens up approaches to the development of feeds or repellents, thereby controlling malaria in areas where the disease is endemic.”
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