A Review on Bioactive Constituents of Essential Oils as Mosquito Repellent

Currently, the research focus has been on finding new alternatives to synthetic mosquito repellents due to their toxicity. Natural products act as a suitable alternative since plant-based mosquito repellents have been used traditionally due to their low toxicity. Essential oils as mosquito repellent have gained importance due to various functional bioactive constituents. Different formulations of essential oils have been studied from time to time to enhance the stability and protection time. However, the underlying mechanism of repellent activity of the bioactive constituents against specific mosquito species remains unexplored. This review focuses on the various sources of essential oil with their bioactive components and their receptor-based mechanism of action for inducing mosquito repellency against different mosquito species. Furthermore, a comparison of the various formulations of essential oil-based mosquito repellents with synthetic repellents has been discussed.