Casey Sukhu, Elroy Charles and Sanasha Perreira
📃• URC22 Abstract •
Published: May 16, 2022 • Book of Abstracts (Forthcoming) of the 4th Undergraduate Research Conference. University of Guyana, Office for Undergraduate Research.
Casey Sukhu ✉️ Sanasha Perreira Department of Environmental Studies. Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences. University of Guyana-Turkeyen Campus. Greater Georgetown, Guyana.
Elroy Charles Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. University of Guyana-Turkeyen Campus. Greater Georgetown, Guyana.
Mosquitoes are harmful vectors that transmit parasites and pathogens that have a significant influence on humans by spreading lethal diseases like Dengue fever, Filariasis and Malaria. Mosquito repellents are quite effective to reduce mosquito nuisance. However, commercial coils are quite harmful and a safe alternative is necessary. This project was designed to investigate the effectiveness of three herbal mosquito repellents. The repellents were made using a combination of 20g herbal treatment and 200g control treatment (cow-dung). Individual repellents were prepared for the various herbal treatments: Azadirachta indica (Neem) leaves, Ocimum tenuiflorum (Tulsi) leaves and Cymbopogon (Lemongrass) leaves in combination with the control treatment and molded into the shape of incense sticks. The experiment was carried out in triplicate tests to investigate the effectiveness in repellency, stunted activity and mortality rate on a specimen population of 15 Aedes aegypti mosquitoes by observing the reaction of mosquitoes to repellents activity over a 60 minute period. From the experiment, all treatments showed a positive relationship on the mosquitoes’ stunted activity, repellency and mortality rates. The highest performance for stunted activity was by Tulsi (13 mosquitoes) closely followed by Neem (12 mosquitoes), while for repellency it was Neem showing a repellency activity of three mosquitoes. Additionally, the highest mortality rate was also recorded from Neem with 9.54%. Overall, the mosquito incense sticks are effective, eco-friendly and safe. However, to increase the potential of the mosquito incense sticks, a greater proportion of herbal treatment to cow dung base is recommended.
Keywords: Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, Neem, Tulsi, Lemongrass
The 4th Undergraduate Research Conference (URC22) is hosted by the University of Guyana’s Office for Undergraduate Research on May 18-20, 2022.
