Vol. 7, Issue 4 (2018)

Author(s):
Ashwin Trivedi, Pawan Rai and Jitendra Kumar

Abstract:
Mosquitoes control and personal protection from mosquito's bites is one of the serious ways for preventing of contagious diseases proliferation. In recent years, interest in plant based products has been revived because of the development of resistance, cross-resistance and possible toxicity hazards associated with synthetic insecticides and their rising costs. Presently most of the mosquito repellents available in markets are based on chemical and they are toxic against the skin and nervous system like rashes, swelling, eye irritation, and other health problems. Most of the people still dislike the smoke of the synthetic pyrethroid containing mosquito coils. Hence herbal mosquito repellents were preferred than chemical based mosquito repellents. Essential oils belonging to various plant species and their mixtures have been seen to act as effective repellent against various mosquitoes and pests. The easy availability and less adverse environmental impact have led to the increased interest in plant origin repellants which are safe and biodegradable alternatives to synthetic chemical repellants for use against mosquitoes. Hence attempts have been made to find out the novel formulations containing fixatives with combination of different essential oils for mosquito repellent stick. The essential oils used mainly were “Cymbopogon Citrullus, Azadirachta indica, Cymbopogon nardus, Eucalyptus globulus, Cymbopogon martini, Mentha piperita, Ocimum basilicum, Rosmarinus officinalis, Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, Syzygium aromaticum”. They were formulatedindividually and in different combinations with supportive ingredients such as filler, binder, burning agent, adhesives, smell enhancer etc.Results of analysis showed that formulations containing Cymbopogon Citrullus, Azadiracta indica and Eucaluptus globulus essential oils have the most promising activity exhibiting 80-95% repellency as compared to other repellant essential oils. The combinations containing Azadiracta indica showed prolonged burning and repellency both as compared to other formulations. In present investigation, the ingredients used in almost all of the formulations were herbal based and ecofriendly. Since, it has no side effect on inhalation. Same formulations were evaluated for texture, efficacy, and stability etc. The present study demonstrates the potential for using essential oils from medicinal plants in mosquito repellent formulations.