Plant essential oils have been domestically formulated or marketed as handcraft products to repel hematophagous mosquitoes. This work evaluated the possible repellent effect of both excipients normally used in commercial formulations and essential oils from nine plants against Aedes albopictus females. The assays were carried out in boxes containing mosquitoes, where a defined area of treated or non-treated fingers was offered. Except for Lanatte cream and carbopol gels, the evaluated excipients had repellent action. Only the oils from citronella (5 and 10%) presented expressive repellent action, with mean protection indexes above 98%. The results indicate that the used methodology is appropriate for the preliminary evaluation of products with potential to repel mosquitoes.
bioassay; repellence; mosquito; essential oils
