A substance produced by tomatoes repels mosquitoes and other insects more effectively and is

safer than DEET, the chemical most commonly used in insect repellents, a North Carolina State
University scientist has discovered.
Indeed, work by Dr. Michael Roe, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Entomology
at NC State, showed that the natural compound found in tomatoes is so effective at repelling
insects that the university patented the substance. The patent describes how the substance may be
used to repel insects.

Dr. Michael Roe of NC State with some of the mosquito pests his tomato-derived substance
effectively repels.

The university has since licensed the right to produce the substance as an insect repellent to Insect
Biotechnology Inc., a Durham company that specializes in developing and marketing biochemical
insecticides. Funding for the research was provided in part by the National Science Foundation
(NSF), the N.C. Biotechnology Center, the N.C. Agricultural Research Service, and Insect
Biotechnology. Roe's research was also supported by university overhead receipts.

Roe and Insect Biotechnology Inc. officials believe the substance, which Insect Biotechnology is
calling IBI-246, has the potential to replace DEET as the active ingredient in most insect
repellents.

"People have been looking for a competitive product to DEET for 20 years," said Dr. John
Bennett, chairman and CEO of Insect Biotechnology. "I think this is it."

DEET (short for N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is a widely used chemical. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture developed DEET for the Army in 1946. The federal Environmental Protection Agency
has registered approximately 230 products containing DEET, and EPA estimates that one -third of
the U.S. population uses DEET each year.

While the EPA has found that the normal use of DEET does not present a health concern to the
general population, the use of products containing DEET has been associated with rashes, swelling
and itching, eye irritation and, less frequently, slurred speech, confusion and seizures. Products
with high concentrations of DEET are considered hazardous to children particularly, and the EPA
no longer allows claims on labels of products containing DEET that the product is safe for
children.

Recent research at Duke University with rats showed that frequent and prolonged use of DEET
caused brain-cell death and behavioral changes in the animals.

Roe said that like DEET, IBI-246 repels insects effectively and, on the scale used by the EPA to
gauge toxicity, is considered slightly safer. He said he discovered the repellent capacity of IBI-246
by accident.

"I was listening to a scientific presentation about protein mimics as a diet pill for the control of
mosquito larvae," Roe said. He realized that the compounds being discussed were similar to a
compound found in wild tomatoes that Roe and another NC State entomologist, Dr. George
Kennedy, also a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, had studied a number of years
earlier.

Roe and Kennedy had studied the compound, which apparently is part of the tomato's natural
defenses against insects, to see if it might be used to control worms that eat tomatoes.

Roe revisited the compound and tested it as a mosquito repellent.

He found that it not only repelled mosquitoes, but ticks as well. Bennett said subsequent testing
has shown that the substance also repels fleas, cockroaches, ants and biting flies, as well as insects
that are agricultural pests such as aphids and thrips.

Roe said the compound is already used to make cosmetics, so its toxicity has already been studied.

"What this means is that the toxicology has been done, which is a big step toward
commercialization," Roe said. "It's found in tomatoes, it's natural, it can be obtained organically,
it's safe and it's at least as effective as DEET, all features that the public would want for a new-
generation insect repellent."

Roe added, "With the concern about West Nile virus and Lyme disease - spread by mosquitoes and
ticks, respectively - in the U.S. and with the threat of other diseases like malaria outside the United
States, people need the personal protection of insect repellents. And what about the nuisance factor
of mosquitoes, ticks and flies?"

Bennett added that the cost of producing IBI-246 is expected to be competitive to the production
cost of DEET.

Bennett said Insect Biotechnology has applied to the EPA for approval to use IBI-246 as an insect
repellent in several products. While it is impossible to tell how long the approval process will take,
Bennett said he is hopeful IBI-246 will win EPA approval by the end of the year.

###

ANOTHER much needed recommendation of a study brought the Benguet State University (BSU)
has brought into the limelight.

A recent study conducted by BSU students found out people need not to buy expensive mosquito
repellants. Remedies can be done even at home now.

The study entitled “Tomato (Lycopersicum solanum) leaf extract as an alternative mosquito
repellant” was conducted by Collins Joe Francisco, Maria Lucille Payangdo, Alexandra Peliño,
Joan Grace Pistola, and Raiza Pumahing, graduates of Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
The study was processed and observed in BSU.

The researchers conducted a test to determine which tomato leaf extract dilution is effective in
keeping mosquitoes away. The extract was diluted to 25, 50, and 75 percent of clean water.

They applied these three dilutions to volunteers’ hands. Later, the researchers instructed the
volunteers to place their hands inside a box full of 30 mosquitoes.

The study revealed the solution of 25 percent tomato leaf extract mixed with 75 percent water had
lesser mosquito bites.

Studies conducted in Israel proved tomato extract can lower blood pressure.

It is not as widely known as one might think that there really is one great fruit that can lower blood
pressure. Tomato has been proven, in recent Israeli studies to help lower blood pressure, reduce
the risk of cancer later in life, and helps to keep the heart healthy and working as it should.

It is not completely understood as to why this has only just recently been discovered, as scientists
have tested thousands of different types of fruit and vegetables to determine their potential health
benefits and uses.

The natural presence of the chemical lycopene is attributed to effectiveness of the tomato in
lowering blood pressure.

This is a very powerful anti-oxidant which has recently been extracted from ‘hybrid’ tomatoes
which were grown in Israel, called the Lycomato, which were specifically grown to ensure higher
concentrations of Lycopene, inside each and every piece of tomato.

Lycopene is not the only anti-oxidant which is naturally present in tomatoes. The long list makes
tomatoes a ‘super-food’ in reference to lots of different potential heart conditions.

While tomatoes may not necessarily lower cholesterol, if you eat them regularly, they can help to
prevent LDL cholesterol from sticking to the inside walls of the arteries.

It can be difficult to consume four whole tomatoes each day even during the peak growing season,
which is the recommended amount for having a positive impact on blood pressure. But it will help
a lot if a person is determined to be healthy.

#####

The potential of using phytochemicals from leaves of wild tomato for controlling the two-spotted
spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is explored in this study as a promising alternative to the
use of synthetic pesticides. Wild tomato accessions of Lycopersicon hirsutum plants that are not
consumed by humans were planted under greenhouse conditions for mass production of leaves.
Crude extracts from leaves of three accessions of L. hirsutum, six accessions of L. hirsutum f.
glabratum, and one accession each of L. pennellii and L. pimpinellifolium were prepared in
chloroform, ethanol and hexane. Two spider mite bioassays, one a measure of antibiosis and the
other a measure of repellency, were utilized to determine the acaricidal performance of the crude
extracts. The bioassay for antibiosis was a 6-h no-choice test. The bioassay for repellency utilized
a ring bioassay. Chloroform leaf extracts of L. hirsutum f. glabratum accessions (PI-251304, PI-
134417, PI-134418, and PI-126449) exhibited greatest antibiotic activity on two-spotted spider
mites; the hexane extracts exhibited greatest repellency. Extracts from PI-251304, PI-126449, PI-
134417, and PI-134418 were especially lethal (chloroform) or repellent (hexane). We investigated
differences in chemical composition of the crude leaf extracts that may explain the observed
differences in mortality and repellency among the different accessions. Major chemical
compounds (α -curcumene, α -zingiberene, trans-caryophyllene, 2-undecanone, and 2-tridecanone)
known to have pesticidal efficacy were detected and quantified in the crude leaf extracts using a
gas chromatograph (GC) equipped with a mass spectrometer (GC/MS). Lethality of extracts was
mainly associated with the presence of high concentrations of 2-tridecanone; repellency of extracts
was mainly associated with the presence of trans-caryophyllene. Leaf extracts of L. hirsutum f.
glabratum accessions that contain significant quantities of 2-tridecanone and/or trans-
caryophyllene could be useful for managing populations of spider mites, which could reduce
reliance on synthetic pesticides.