American biochemists have named soap aromas that attract mosquitoes. The discovery will allow the development of new hygiene products that will repel insects, media write.

Scientists took samples of odorous substances from the skin of 16 people and asked them to wash themselves with a certain brand of soap for several days.. After that, the samples were taken again and looked which of them the mosquitoes would choose..

It turned out that insects are attracted to soap with lilial, a substance with the scent of lily of the valley, as well as three compounds with the smells of tropical fruits and flowers.. Three molecules repel mosquitoes: benzyl benzoate, benzaldehyde and nonalactone. They have special floral, almond and watermelon flavors..

“It is important to understand that mosquitoes are attracted not by individual molecules, but by specific combinations of volatile substances present not only in soap, but also in human body odor.. For example, all the brands of soap we studied contained limonene, a substance whose smell repels mosquitoes, but the combined aroma of three of the four brands of soap we studied did not drive away, but attracted insects, ”added co-author of the study Clement Vinozher.

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