Abstract

METHANOLIC EXTRACTS OF MEDICINAL HERBS AS A POTENTIAL SOURCE FOR DEVELOPING MOSQUITO REPELLENT FABRICS

Abirami G.*, Yasotha P. and Pachiyappan K. M.

Abstract

One of the major life threatening deadly diseases are caused by mosquitoes. Apart from the nuisance, the mosquitoes cause severe health problems to human beings. Aedes aegypti mosquito carries the major deadly diseases like chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever etc. These mosquito borne diseases can be highly witnessed in all over the world. According to World Health Organization (WHO) there are more than 700000 deaths every year caused by these mosquitoes. Commercially available synthetic mosquito repellents can cause toxic to skin and lungs of human, and it is toxic when it is left on earth. Mosquito repellent from naturally available sources are abundant on earth. Health care fabrics have gained a massive attention in today’s market because of its need among public life and safety. Hence the current study focuses to explore the mosquito repellency of natural plant source such as Calatropis gigantea, Datura metal, Andrographis paniculata and Carica papaya. The methanol extracts of these selected herbs were tested for mosquito repellency using the standard cage test method. The Calatropis gigantea extract shows the maximum mosquito repellency of 95 ± 1.5 against Aedes aegypti. The optimized extract of Calatropis gigantea was used for finishing cotton fabrics with two different GSM (Grams per square meter). The finished fabrics were further analyzed for its wash durability up to 20 washes.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti, mosquito repellent, calatropis gigantea, fabric.