Methyl paraben is a widely used compound naturally found in blueberries. It has been used to help prevent spoilage in consumables since the early 1900s.
Make your own fruit fly media? - It's what we use at Josh's Frogs in our world famous fruit fly media. Just add 4 teaspoons to 10 cups of your media. No need to use vinegar anymore! 1 pound of methyl paraben is enough to make 360 cups of fruit fly media or 720 half cup cultures! Methyl Paraben is cheaper than using vinegar, doesn't cause your culture to dry out like vinegar does, and is odorless!
Methyl Paraben is also used in several widely used beauty products and cosmetics (at a rate of 0.01% to 0.3%), as well as a food preservative (up to 0.1%).