Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #331322
Research Project: Biting Arthropod Surveillance and Control

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: Repellency of the Origanum onites L. essential oil and constituents to the Lone Star tick and Yellow Fever mosquito

Author
item CARROLL, JOHN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item DEMIRCI, BETUL - Anadolu Universtiy
item KRAMER, MATTHEW - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item Bernier, Ulrich
item AGRAMONTE, NATASHA - University Of Florida
item BASER, HUSNU - Near East University
item TABANCA, NURHAYAT - University Of Florida

Submitted to: Natural Product Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/24/2016
Publication Date: 2/17/2017
Citation: Carroll, J.F., Demirci, B., Kramer, M., Bernier, U.R., Agramonte, N.M., Baser, H.C., Tabanca, N. 2017. Repellency of the Origanum onites L. essential oil and constituents to the Lone Star tick and Yellow Fever mosquito. Natural Product Research. 31(18):2192-2197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2017.1280485.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2017.1280485

Interpretive Summary: Scientists at the USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, University of Florida, Turkey, and Cyprus collaborated to identify and test chemicals in the oil of oregano. The extract and chemicals were tested against Lone Star ticks and Yellow Fever mosquitoes. The plant is being examined because oregano has been claimed by some to be a good repellent. Based on the results of the study, the oil contains a large amount of carvarcrol and this compound is a very good repellent of mosquitoes. The oil itself was a good repellent against the ticks. The results of this study benefit people at risk of tick and mosquito attack throughout the world, and may be of specific use to researchers and commercial entities that are developing new repellents for personal protection from mosquito attack.

Technical Abstract: The oregano, Origanum onites L., essential oil (EO) was tested in laboratory behavioral bioassays for repellent activity against Amblyomma americanum (L.) and Aedes aegypti (L.). The O. onites EO was characterized using GC-FID and GC-MS. Carvacrol (75.70 %), linalool (9.0 %), p-cymene (4.33 %) and thymol (1.9%) were the most abundant compounds. At a concentration of 0.413 mg oil/cm2 on filter paper, O. onites EO repelled 100% of the ticks tested, and at 0.103 mg oil/cm2 on filter paper, 66.7% of the ticks were repelled. At 0.075 mg oil/cm2 filter paper, thymol repelled 66.7% of the ticks compared to 28.7% by carvacrol at that same concentration. Against Ae. aegypti, O. onites EO was repellent at the minimum effective dosage (MED) of 0.011 (± 0.00) mg/cm2 in the cloth patch assay compared to the reference control, N,N-dimethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) with a MED = 0.007± (0.003) mg/cm2.