Use
1-Octen-3-ol is a chemical that attracts biting insects such as mosquitoes. It occurs naturally in some plants, fungi, and molds; and it is a metabolite of linoleic acid. It is also found in human breath and sweat, which is unfortunate because it attracts mosquitoes and other biting insects and it was once believed that insect repellent DEET works by blocking the insects octenol odorant receptors.
Used as a flavoring agent in cheese and chocolate.
Used as a perfuming agent in cosmetic industry.
Since the discovery in the early 1980s that 1-octen-3-ol, isolated from oxen breath, attracts tsetse fly, there has been growing interest in exploring the use of this semiochemical as a possible generic lure for trapping host-seeking mosquitoes. Intriguingly, traps baited with 1-octen-3-ol captured significantly more females of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, and the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, than control traps, but failed to attract the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus.