Mosquito repellent activity of volatile oils from selected aromatic plants

Abstract

Essential oils from fresh leaves of four aromatic plants viz., Ocimum sanctum, Mentha piperita, Eucalyptus globulus and Plectranthus amboinicus were extracted by hydrodistillation. The test solutions were prepared as 20% essential oil in ethanol and positive control as 20% DEET in ethanol. Essential oil blend was prepared as 5% concentration. Nulliparous, 3-5-day-old female adult Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were used for repellency screening as per ICMR protocol. The study showed that the repellency of 20% essential oil of O. sanctum, M. piperita and P. amboinicus were comparable with that of the standard DEET (20%) as no mosquito landing on the test was observed up to 6 h. The E. globulus oil exhibited mosquito repellency only upto 1½ h. Considerable mosquito landing and feeding was displayed in negative control. In the case of the oil blend, no landing of mosquitoes was seen up to 6 h as that of positive control. The results showed that the essential oil blend from O. sanctum, M. piperita, E. globulus and P. amboinicus could repel Ae. aegypti mosquitoes or prevent from feeding as in the case of DEET even at a lower concentration of 5%. This study demonstrates the potential of essential oils from O. sanctum, M. piperita, E. globulus and P. amboinicus and their blend as mosquito repellents against Ae. aegypti, the vector of dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Volatile Composition and Biological Activities of the Leaf Essential Oil from Zanthoxylum limoncello Grown in Oaxaca, México

“…These experiments were done in accordance with those of Lalthazuali and Mathew, [27] using a laboratory strain of Aedes aegypti. N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) was used a standard of reference.…”

“…Five-minute landing counts were made every hour for 5 h. The percentage of mosquitoes that landed was calculated using the formula described by Lalthazuali and Mathew. [27] Experiments were performed in triplicate five times each. An ANOVA coupled to a Dunnett's test (p < 0.01) was used to determine significant differences between treatments.…”

Synergistic terpene combinations as larvicides against the dengue vector Aedes aegypti Linn.

“…In recent times, there is an increasing trend in research on natural product based insecticide development (Irrusappan & Nisha, 2018;Isman, 2006;Lalthazuali & Nisha, 2017;Lucia et al, 2013;Miresmailli et al, 2006;Nisha et al, 2009;Samidurai & Nisha, 2014;Vidhya & Nisha, 2014). Essential oil (EO) is made up of blend of volatile chemical components with characteristic strong aromas (Fahn, 2000).…”

Improved adulticidal activity against Aedes aegypti (L.), and Aedes albopictus (Skuse), from synergy between Cinnamomum spp. essential oils

“…EOs have not only been used singly but also in combinations. Combinations of different EOs can be synergistic in their mosquito vector control e cacy [36][37] . Combinations of Ocimum sanctum + Mentha piperita EOs and E. globulus + Plectranthus amboinicus EOs showed synergistic repellency activity against Ae.…”