The 1897 novel "Dracula" suggested garlic as an effective weapon against bloodthirsty mythical creatures. Now, scientists have proven that garlic is indeed effective, but against real "vampires."
Scientists at Yale University in the United States have discovered that garlic can hinder the mating and egg-laying process in both mosquitoes and flies, and they have even been able to accurately identify the chemical compound responsible for this.
The research team says this discovery could lead to the development of new and environmentally friendly pest control strategies, especially since fruits and vegetables are a source of inexpensive and safe compounds, according to the study published last month in the scientific journal Cell.
In fact, it's not new for people to promote garlic as a potential weapon against mosquitoes. Previously, the focus was on using garlic as an insect repellent, either by rubbing it on the skin or consuming it, in the hope that it would make a person less attractive to mosquitoes. However, studies examining these uses have shown little to no effect at best.
What's new about this study is that the researchers weren't primarily trying to prove that garlic repels mosquitoes. Instead, they conducted a broad analysis of 43 types of fruits and vegetables, hoping to find natural compounds that could beneficially influence the behavior of these harmful insects. It turned out that garlic contains one of the strongest candidates: a chemical compound called diallyl disulfide.
Initial experiments showed that this compound can disrupt the mating and egg-laying behaviors of fruit flies, and it also appeared to do the same with Aedes mosquitoes, the group known for spreading some of the world's most dangerous human diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever. Additionally, the compound interfered with the mating ability of tsetse flies, the insects responsible for transmitting sleeping sickness to humans.
Through subsequent experiments, scientists discovered that this compound affects insects through their sense of taste rather than smell, specifically via a sensory receptor known as TrpA1. Other research has also found that garlic appears to increase the activity of a gene responsible for a hormone that controls the sense of satiety in mosquitoes, and when mosquitoes feel full, they avoid behaviors such as mating or laying eggs.
The most important aspect of this research is demonstrating the potential to use what is known as "phytoscreening" to identify and develop cheap, safe, and readily available products to deter all kinds of annoying insects, which may open the door to natural alternatives to traditional chemical pesticides that may harm the environment.
