Garlic has long been viewed as a natural mosquito repellent, and its pungent smell is linked to insect avoidance. Scientists analyzed 43 fruits and vegetables for natural compounds that could interfere with reproductive behavior in flying pest insects, using fruit flies as a model. Most tested foods showed no significant aphrodisiac effect, but garlic completely blocked mating and egg laying. Further experiments separated smell from taste by exposing insects to garlic puree for smelling only or for both tasting and smelling. Taste inhibited reproductive behaviors. Chemical analysis identified diallyl disulfide as the active compound. The compound acts on the TrpA1 taste receptor, which triggers rejection responses when detecting potentially harmful tastes.
"They determined that diallyl disulfide was the element that caused the inhibition. In practice, this substance acts on a sensory receptor present in the fly's taste organs, known as TrpA1. The TrpA1 receptor functions as a sensor that triggers immediate rejection responses when it detects potentially noxious tastes."
Read at WIRED
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]