Packaging represents a critical step in the food quality preservation and the ultimate defence against insect
pests. Cereal-based foods may be infested by insects even during their packed life, i.e. during distribution,
transportation and storage in warehouses or in retail stores. Many studies in the last years have concerned
the development of active packaging with antioxidant and antimicrobial action, but very few studies have
addressed insect-repellent packaging materials for foods. This work aimed at assessing the repellent efficacy
of novel functional packaging materials containing three essential oils: citronella, oregano and rosemary. Repellent
films were chemically characterized by MHS-SPME-GC-MS. The results obtained from area tests run
in Petri dishes indicated that essential oils at concentrations higher than 0.005 μL/cm2 showed potential in
terms of repellent activities against the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Assays performed with coated
packages containing wheat semolina showed repellency results ranging from 53 to 87% for citronella and
rosemary, respectively.