Your grandmother probably taught you: garlic repels everything. Mosquitoes, Dracula, and even those you kiss. Here, we will mainly be interested in the first category, the culexwho should soon invite themselves to your house in the evening, if they have not already done so.
Researchers have long been perplexed by the belief that garlic is a miracle repellent. A new study from Yale University (Connecticut) finally provides a scientific explanation. Better still, it shows that garlic even completely suppresses the desire of mosquitoes to reproduce. And no, it’s not because of the breath.
In a first attempt, the scientists first discovered that garlic was, in the middle of an experiment bringing together 43 fruits and vegetables, the only one capable of interfering with the reproductive behavior of different flying insects, in particular fruit flies, although they were always inclined to get laid on food.
Garlic in bed, bad housekeeping
To find out whether the source of the inhibition was the flies’ taste or smell, the scientists placed a garlic puree so that the insects could only smell it; in a second experiment, they allowed them to taste it. As a result, everything actually comes from taste. The fault lies with a very specific chemical compound.
Through a chemical analysis of garlic, researchers found the culprit: diallyl disulfide. This substance acts directly on a sensory receptor present in the taste organs of specimens, called TRPA1.
This receptor is a kind of sensor that triggers immediate rejection reactions when it detects a potentially harmful taste. The bitter taste of garlic acts directly on this receptor, causing physical avoidance, but also changes at the molecular level by modifying the expression of several genes, reports Wired.
Among the alterations identified, that of a gene linked to appetite is particularly interesting. Garlic compounds actually increase the satiety of flies, leading to behavior that limits mating and reproduction, mainly in females.
And the mosquitoes in all this? The experiments were replicated on two species transmitting diseases like yellow fever, dengue fever and the Zika virus, as well as tsetse flies (not funny ones). In all tests, garlic has been shown to be effective in repelling these mosquitoes and hindering their reproduction. It remains to be seen if you are ready to spread yourself with garlic this summer.
