Jacarthie Kim Brazil
Research Project Sumary:
With a focus on biomass utilization, we try to find value-added uses for waste materials from forestry and agriculture. The focus of my research project is the use of essential oils from plants as mosquito repellents. We are currently testing the efficacy of guayule (Parthenium argentatum) resin vacuum distillation samples. In the future, we will use steam distillation to extract essential oils from hedge apples (Maclura pomifera) for testing. Characterization of the essential oils will help us understand which compounds in the biomass are responsible for the repellent effects.