The potential of essential oils as mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) bio-repellents: a systematic review

Rabelo, Adeilson Pimentel; Cruz, Rodrigo Alves Soares; David, Everson dos Santos; Fonseca, Erique da Costa; Santos, Karen Carmo dos; Souto, Raimundo Nonato Picanço

doi:10.1590/S1678-9946202668039

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Review • Rev. Inst. Med. trop. S. Paulo 68 • 2026 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-9946202668039 linkcopy

The potential of essential oils as mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) bio-repellents: a systematic review

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Controlling culicid-borne diseases remains a global public health challenge. While public health actions are vital, individual protection via repellents is essential. Concerns regarding synthetic compounds such as DEET have intensified the search for sustainable plant-derived alternatives. This systematic review analyzed 33 experimental studies that were published from 2020 to 2024. A comprehensive search was performed on SciELO, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and LILACS using the keywords "Repellency," "Essential Oils," and "Mosquitoes." Data were independently selected and extracted to evaluate protection time and repellency percentages. The included studies showed low risk of methodological bias according to SYRCLE. Results showed that most of the tested essential oils possess high protective potential. Species such as Perilla frutescens, Leucas stachydiformis, Cymbopogon nardus, and Eucalyptus camaldulensis achieved up to 100% repellency, with protection exceeding eight hours. The cage test was the predominant laboratory method. Essential oils are promising, effective alternatives to synthetic repellents, offering reduced environmental and toxicological impacts. However, this evidence is based on controlled laboratory conditions rather than field trials. This limitation may affect real-world effectiveness, and further research in natural environments is recommended to validate these results for commercial application.

KEYWORDS:
Repellents; Essential oils; Culicidae; Pathogens

Article	Country	Plant	Volunteers	Concentrations	Mosquitoes	Repellency %	Time (min/ hr)
Parveen et al.²⁶	Pakistan	Artemisia scoparia	-	33.3 μg/cm² 333 μg/cm²	Aedes aegypti	100	75 min 60 min
Boonyuan et al.¹⁹	Thailand	Cananga odorata Vetiveria zizanioides	2	2,8 ml	Culex quinquefasciatus	91.67 80 88	-
Zhang et al.¹	China	Perilla frutescens	-	5% 10%	Culex pipiens pallens	100	4 – 6 h
Fikru et al.²³	Ethiopia	Leucas stachydiformis	2	366.7 μg/cm 133.3 μg/cm 41.6 μg/cm	Anopheles arabiensis	100	4 h
Batume et al.⁴⁰	Uganda	Nepeta cataria	2	2% 100%	Aedes aegypti	85	1 h 5 h
Opoku-Bamfoh et al.¹⁴	Ghana	Morinda citrifolia Moringa oleifera Ocimum basilicum	3	20% 90%	Anopheles Kisumu and Anopheles gambiae	90	15 – 240 min
De Brito et al.⁷	Brazil	Cymbopogon winterianus Eucalyptus globulus lippia alba Lippia thymoides	-	1.25 mg/mL 2.5 mg/mL 5 mg/mL 10 mg/mL 20 mg/mL	Aedes aegypti	70	-
Haris et al.¹³	Pakistan	Azadirachta indica Citrus reticulata Dysphania ambrosioides Eucalyptus camaldulensis Cymbopogon citratus Mentha longifolia Perovskia atriplicifolia Salvia moorcroftiana		33 μg 165 μg 330 μg	Aedes aegypti	10 – 100	60 – 135 min
Haris et al.²⁴	Pakistan	Carpesium abrotanoides	15	1% 5% 10%	Aedes aegypti	40	45 – 315 min
Dutta et al.¹⁷	India	Aromatic homalomena Citrus macroptera	-	1:1 1:2 1:3 2:1 3:1	Aedes aegypti	-	4 h 6 h
Benelli et al.²⁵	Madagascar	Hazomalania voyronii	-	10% 50 % 100%	Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes aegypti	20 35 80 80	30 – 120 min
Manh and Tuyet⁵	Vietnam	Mentha arvensis	2	25% 50% 100%	Aedes aegypti	-	45 –165 min
Mustapa et al.¹¹	Indonesia	Cinnamomum burmanii Myristica fragrans Cymbopogon citratus Pogostemon cablin Curcuma longa Cymbopogon nardus Syzygium aromaticum	3	10%	Aedes aegypti	95.2 94.7 85 83.8 80.4 72.2 71.4	6 h
Kamaraj et al.⁸	India	Citrus limon Cymbopogon nardus Eucalyptus globulus Mentha Trachyspermum ammi	-	100 ppm	Aedes aegypti Anopheles stephensi culex quinquefasciatus	96 94 84	8 h
Tian et al.²⁷	China	Eucalyptus cloeziana, Eucalyptus umbellata Eucalyptus benthamii Eucalyptus globulus Melaleuca alternifolia	3	12.5% 25.0% 50.0%	Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus	8.7 5.5 15.0	15 – 465 min
Deng et al.²²	China	Foeniculum vulgare Cinnamomum zeylanicum Rhizoma zingiberis Mentha haplocalyx Piper nigrum Pogostemon cablin Syzygium aromaticum	1	020% 025% 2.50% 10% 20% 25% 30%	Aedes albopictus Aedes aegypti	50% 95% 99%	29 – 115 min
Najar et al.²⁸	Italy	Salvia dolomitica Salvia dorisiana Salvia sclarea Salvia somalensis	1	0,02 nL cm ⁻² 200 nL cm ⁻²	Aedes albopictus	38.68 39.88 12.65 83.54	5 – 60 min
Abbas et al.⁴	Pakistan	Ailanthus altissima Erigeron bonariensis Erigeron canadenses Mentha longifolia Salsola imbricata Zanthoxylum armatum	1	1% 5% 10%	Aedes aegypti	63 100 100 50 10 96.5 100	4.60 – 43.28 min
Sheikh et al.²	Iran	Eucalyptus globulus e Syzygium Aromatum	-	0.5% 1% 3% 5% 10%	Anopheles stephensi	83.33 88.89 94.44 88.89 0	15 min 30 min 0.75 h 30 min
Sutthanont et al.¹²	Thailand	Cymbopogon nardus Citrus bergamia Coriandrum sativum Citrus aurantium Ocimum basilicum Pimpinella anisum Pogostemon cablin Mentha piperita Rosmarinus officinalis Salvia officinalis Vetiveria zizanioides	-	100 µL Undiluted oil	Aedes aegypti Anopheles dirus Culex quinquefasciatus	-	30 – 330 min
Liakakou et al.²⁹	Greece	Pinus nigra Pinus heldreichii Cristo Pinus pinea Juniperus turbinata Juniperus oxycedrus deltoides	-	0,2 μL/cm²	Aedes albopictus	41.8 42.0 36.1 82.4 22.3 100	2 h
Ndirangu et al.³⁰	Kenya	Nigella sativa	-	10 g/mL 10-1 g/mL 10-2 g/mL 10-3 g/mL 10-4 g/mL	Anopheles gambiae	100 100	30 – 360 min
Oliveira et al.³⁶	Brazil	Origanum vulgare Thymus vulgaris	-	0.01% 0.1% 0.5% 1.0% 2.5% 5.0%	Aedes aegypti	37.8 68.9	-
Ludia et al.³	Indonesia	Ocimum basilicum	-	10% 15% 20% 25%	Aedes aegypti	67,6 100	30 min
Iqbal et al.¹⁶	Pakistan	Agrimonia eupatoria Lepidium pinnatifidum Mentha longifolia Origanum vulgare	5	1% 5% 10%	Aedes aegypti	100 83 94	1 – 6h
Osei-Owusu et al.³¹	Ghana	Ocimum gratissimum Ocimum tenuiflorum Ocimum basilicum	5	50% 10% Undiluted oil	Anopheles gambiae	60 10 20 90 50 30 20	30 – 105 min
Jhaiaun et al.³⁷	Thailand	Psidium guajava	-	-	Anopheles minimus Anopheles epiroticus Culex quinquefasciatus	100 98 91.67 44.23 35.00 11.00	30 – 90 min
Adhikari et al.³²	India	Citrus aurantifolia Citrus maxima Citrus aurantium Citrus limon Citrus medica Citrus paradise	-	0.1 mg/cm ² 0.2 mg/cm ² 0.25 mg/cm ² 0.5 mg/cm ² 1 mg/cm ² 2 mg/cm ² 3 mg/cm ² 4 mg/cm ² 5 mg/cm ² 6 mg/cm ²	Aedes aegypti	EC50 = 0.46 CEC50 = 0.67 EC50 = 0.79 CEC50 = 2.41 EC50 = 2.63 EC50 = 2.88 CE50 = 0.14	-
Wahab et al.³⁸	Malaysia	Citrus iners	-	1% 5% 10%	Aedes aegypti	12.33 10.78 10.85	3 h
Silva et al.³⁹	Brazil	Blepharocalyx salicifolius Campomanesia adamantium Eugenia dysenterica Myrcia dictyophylla Protium ovatum Xylopia aromatic	-	1%	Culex quinquefasciatus	71 61 60 35 42 44 93	30 min
Abbas et al.³³	Pakistan	Calista Callistemon viminalis Helichrysum odoratissimum Hyptis suaveolens Lantana camara Schinus tereSchinus terebinthifolia		1% 10%	Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus	90 52 5,6 100 100 90 52 100 50	-
Paulraj et al.³⁴	Not specified	Lavandula latifolia	1	100 ppm 200 ppm 300 ppm 400 ppm 500 ppm	Aedes aegypti	100	30 –180 min
Sukkanon et al.²⁰	Thailand	Cananga odorata	-	0.5% 1.0% 2.5% 5.0%	Aedes aegypti Culex quinquefasciatus Anopheles dirus Anopheles minimus	98.4 64.4 39.3	150 min

Article		Selection bias			Performance bias		Detection bias		Friction bias	Reporting bias	Others
Article		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1.	Manh and Tuyet⁵	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
2.	Boonyuan et al.¹⁹	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
3.	Zhang et al.¹	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
4.	Fikru et al.²³	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
5.	Batume et al.⁴⁰	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
6.	Opoku-Bamfoh et al.¹⁴	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
7.	De Brito et al.⁷	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
8.	Haris et al.¹³	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
9.	Haris et al.²⁴	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
10.	Dutta et al.¹⁷	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
11.	Benelli et al.²⁵	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
12.	Parveen et al.²⁶	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
13.	Mustapa et al.¹¹	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
14.	Kamaraj et al.⁸	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
15.	Deng et al.²²	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
16.	Tian et al.²⁷	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
17.	Najar et al.²⁸	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
18.	Abbas et al.⁴	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
19.	Sheikh et al.²	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
20.	Liakakou et al.²⁹	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
21.	Sutthanont et al.¹²	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
22.	Ndirangu et al.³⁰	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
23.	Oliveira et al.³⁶	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
24.	Ludia et al.³	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
25.	Iqbal et al.¹⁶	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
26.	Osei-Owusu et al.³¹	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
27.	Jhaiaun et al.³⁷	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
28.	Adhikari et al.³²	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
29.	Wahab et al.³⁸	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
30.	Silva et al.³⁹	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
31.	Abbas et al.³³	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
32.	Paulraj et al.³⁴	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
33.	Sukkanon et al.²⁰	?	Y	N	?	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y

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[TFN1] Concentration units vary between studies (such as %, µg/cm², mg/mL, ppm, nL/cm²) reflecting the different methodological protocols and international guidelines followed by the authors. Unless explicitly identified as a "mixture" or ‘combination’ in the "Plant" column, each botanical species was tested separately in each study to assess its individual repellent potential. Essential oils were applied in their pure form or diluted in solvents (such as ethanol or acetone) according to the experimental design of each study.