Abstract
Repellents are substances used for the control of insects, especially mosquitoes, which are vectors of several diseases and responsible for causing allergic reactions through their bite. The use of plants as naturals repellents has been much explored in common sense, but without proper scientific evidence. Thus, the work aimed to analyse the potential application of plant origin substances as naturals repellents. For this, a systematic review of articles of interest was carried out in two stages, to identify potential plants to be used for this purpose and, later, which substances from these plants have such repellent action, as well as the tests performed. Four plants and their main substances related to repellent action were identified: linalool for basil, eucalyptol and β-caryophyllene for rosemary, eugenol for clove, and citronellal for citronella. Regarding the tests, five different types were identified: verification of insecticidal action, repellent potential, tests carried out directly on the skin of humans and animals and tests using cages. It was possible to observe that the plants rosemary and citronella showed greater evidence of repellent action and the plants basil and clove showed greater insecticidal action.