LSU researchers have secured a $550,000 grant to work on creating an insect repellent that could reduce cases of malaria, Lyme disease, and West Nile. Chemical Engineering Professor Kerry Dooley says the project involves the use of nootkatone, a natural deterrent for many insects, but it’s costly to buy to in its pure form, so can they fbring the costs down.
“Bring it down from 2,500 per kilogram to maybe two to three hundred or something like that. And add sufficient to make it an ingredient in things like lotions, sunscreens, and sprays.”
Nootkatone is an FDA-approved organic compound found in grapefruit skin and Alaska yellow cedar trees.
There have been few insect repellents on the market since DEET, which is found in most insect repellent sprays and creams. However, nootkatone is proven to be a natural insect deterrent.
“It’s been found to have very effective properties against a wide variety of insects and especially against deer ticks which are the major carrier for Lyme disease.”
Dooley says even at a five percent concentration, nootkatone outperforms DEET. He highlights nootkatone effectiveness compared to DEET.
“Nootkatone has been shown by the CDC to be more effective than DEET. You don’t need as much of it in a spray. It has better repellency and also it doesn’t have some of the negative properties that DEET has.”
