A REVIEW ON NATURAL INSECT REPELLENT

MINI PROJECT/SEMINAR BY S.SHALINI-(13GD1R0031) UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF Mr. K. SEETARAM SWAMY M. Pharm ( Assistant professor ) Department of Pharmacy

CHILKUR BALAJI COLLEGE OF PHARMACY (APPROVED BY AICTE, NEW DELHI) (Affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad,Telangana)

INTRODUCTION

Insect repellants are an alternative to the use of insecticides. Insecticides which includes mosquitoes, ticks, cockroaches etc. It is commonly known as bug spray. An individual can be protected from insect bites by using these natural insect repellants these insect repellants work by masking human scent.

DEFINITION A Natural insect repellant is a spray or lotion, applied to the skin for the prevention of mosquito bite.Natural mosquito repellents were preferred over chemical mosquito repellants.

HISTORY

The Insect repellants are used from the ancient period. Different types of plant oils were used to kill insecticides. Oil of citronella is one of the mostly uesd repellent from those days.In 1937 dimethyl phthalate, was discovered.Later several other compounds have been evaluated. After citronella oil DEET is the most widely used mosquito repellent.It has less toxic effects. Attempts have been made to find out new active ingredients,those derived from natural plants to replace synthetic pyrethroid.

CITRONELLA LEAVES

The nine potential plants were used namely• Finger root• Turmeric• Greater galangale• Cardamom• Neem• Siamese Cassia• Citronella grass

These plants consist of high degree of repellency against mosquitoes.The potential of volatile oils were extracted from these plants.

CITRONELLA •The compounds present in these having repellent characteristics.It is most effective and provided 2 hours of repellency.The crude essential oil consists of five active ingredients.It consists of 16 volatile oils.The 4 main components present in this includes:CitronellalEugenolGerniolLimoneneCitronella oil has good efficacy against 44 mosquitoes in concentrations ranging from 0.05% to 15%w/v.Citronella based herbal mosquito repellant cake which is more effective and cheaper.

PREPARATION OF CITRONELLA LEAF CAKE

The Fresh leaves should be taken and were grounded into paste

50 to 100 gms of of citronella leaf paste was taken

The different binders were added to it.

Wet weights were taken and then it should be dried.

Dry weight cakes were allowed to dry in sun for 24 hours.

As a result citronella leaf cakes were formed.

In this preparation it also includes cow dung and neem powder.

PREPARATION OF LEAF CAKE

EVALUATION

The Mosquito repellent activity that prepared cakes were checked its flammability, burning efficacy and effectiveness.

Ash produced by cakes were weighed and recorded.

The cakes were burn in selected mosquito prone areas only. In the evening or night time .

Only in selected areas only the cakes should be burn for the first time.

The cakes were conducted to check its combustibility.

FLAMMABILITY TESTThe Flammability test is done to observe its fumes. The cakes were burnt using candles.

After the burning of that coil is completed the ash which is produced to be collected. The quantity of ash, irritation produced by different combination of cakes and the time period should be recorded.

The main point is that the coil should be burn completely.

After that note the high residual percentage and less residual percentage.And compare with the other combinations.

MOSQUITO REPELLENCY TEST

By selecting mosquito prone areas.The test should be done in the evening near the bushes, shrubs, and the areas were the more mosquitoes are present.After allowing them to burn check if the mosquitoes are present or escaped away from the burning cakes.If is it is not worked properly then some more inggredients were added to the preparation for the better results.It may includes addition of neem powder for the better repellancy activity.The effectiveness of both the combination was further increased by adding 10% citronella oil.

BACKGROUND

• The plant compounds are used in preventing attack from phyto phagous

• The repellency of plant material has been exploited for thousands of years by man, most simply by hanging bruised plants in houses.

• Plants have been used in the form of fumigants where plants were burnt to drive away mosquitoes and later as oil formulations applied to the skin.

• Natural smelling repellants are preferred because plants are perceived as a safe and trusted.

In Roman and Indian scholars Plant-based repellents are still extensively used in this traditional way throughout rural communities in the tropics because for many of the poorest communities the only means of protection from mosquito bites that are available, and indeed for some of these communities, as in the Europe and North America “natural” smelling repellents are preferred because plants are perceived as a safe and trusted means of mosquito bite prevention.

Lemon Eucalyptus was discovered in the 1960s during mass screenings of plants used in Chinese traditional medicine.

Lemon eucalyptus essential oil, comprising 85% citronellal, is used by cos-metic industries due to its fresh smell.

However, it was discovered that the waste distillate remaining after hydro-distillation of the essential oil was far more effec-tive at repelling mosquitoes than the essential oil itself.

Many plant extracts and oils repel mosquitoes, with their effect lasting from several minutes to several hours.

• Their active ingredients tend to be highly volatile, so although they are effective repellents for a short period after application, they rapidly evaporate leaving the user unprotected.

• Citronella. was originally extracted for use in perfumery, and its name derives from the French citronelle around 1858.

It was used by the Indian Army to repel mosqui-toes at the beginning of the 20th century and was then registered for commercial use in the USA in 1948.

Today, citronella is one of the most widely used natural repellents on the market, used at concentrations of 5-10%. This is lower than most other commercial repellents but higher concentrations can cause skin sen-sitivity.

Essential oils: • Essential oils distilled from members of the Lamiaceae (mint

family that includes most culinary herbs), Poaceae (aromatic grasses) and Pinaceae (pine and cedar family) are commonly used as insect repellents throughout the globe.

• Many members of these families are used in rural communities through burning or hanging them within homes.

• Almost all of the plants used as repellents are also used for food flavouring or in the perfume industry, which may explain the association with these oils as safer natural alternatives to DEET despite many oils causing contact dermatitis.

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• Many commercial repellents contain a number of plant essential oils either for fragrance or as repellents including peppermint, lemongrass, geraniol, pine oil, pennyroyal, cedar oil, thyme oil and patchouli.

• The most effective of these include thyme oil, geraniol, pep-permint oil, cedar oil, patchouli and clove that have been found to repel malaria, filarial and yellow fever vectors for a period of 60-180 mins.

• Most of these essential oils are highly volatile and this contri-butes to their poor longevity as mosquito repellents.

• However, this problem can be addressed by using fixa-tives or careful formulation to improve their longevity.

• For example, oils from turmeric and hairy basil with addition of 5% vanillin repelled 3 species of mosquitoes .

• CONCLUSION: Currently, the use of synthetic chemicals to control insects and arthropods

raises several concerns related to environment and human health. An alternative is to use natural products that possess good efficacy and are environmentally friendly. Among those chemicals, essential oils from plantsbelonging to several species have been extensively tested to assess their repellent properties as a valuable natural resource. Citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus) oil is the essential oil whose repellent activities have been demonstrated, as well as the importance of its leaf remains which are generally thrown as waste are the main focus of this study.Citronella leaf remains in the form of cakes is the first and preliminary report. In addition, the use of other natural products in the mixture, such as binders, could increase the protection time, potentiating the repellent effect of some essential oils.

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