Oil Extract from Local Leaves - An Alternative to Synthetic Mosquito Repellants Download PDF

Apart from the fact that chemical based (synthetic) repellents have been discovered to have unfavourable effects on man and livestock, they are expensive, non-biodegradable and no longer efficient due to adaptation of mosquitoes to them. With these shortcomings, an eco-friendly plant based insecticide as an alternative is urgently needed. This study was based on using the oil extracts from local leaves namely: Hyptis Sauveolens, Mentha spicata, and Cymbopogon citratus leaves as mosquito repellent. The leaves’ oil extracts were screened for the presence of phytochemicals (secondary metabolites only). The phytochemical screening result showed that leaves’ oil extracts contained flavonoids, tannins, phenols, steroids, terpenoids, saponins, glycosides and anthraquinones. Different concentrations of the oil extracts were incorporated into the formulated body lotion/body cream. The lotion with the highest concentration of the oil extract (0.6 ml) had the highest repellence time lasting up to about eight (8) hours. The leaves’ oil extract was analysed using Gas chromatography- Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) to identify the chemical composition, and only major chemical components were reported in this work.