title: Repellency of essential oil of Piper aduncum against Aedes albopictus in the laboratory.
abstract: The repellent activity of Piper aduncum essential oil against Aedes albopictus was investigated under laboratory conditions with human volunteers. The lowest median effective dose (ED50) value was 1.5 microg/cm2 at 60 sec of exposure when compared to 90 sec (2.1 microg/cm2) and 120 sec (1.8 microg/cm2) of exposure. At 0.4 g, the essential oil gave a high protection (95.2%) against Ae. albopictus bites or landing at 2 h postapplication. The percentage of protection was reduced to 83.3% after 4 h, 64.5% after 6 h, and 51.6% after 8 h postapplication. As a comparison, treatment with 10% deet gave 100% protection against mosquito biting/landing for 4 h postapplication. There was no significant difference in percentage protection reduction between the plant extract and the commercial product deet, respectively (P = 0.739). The essential oil, which was not as good as deet, still gave moderate protection against Ae. albopictus biting even until 4 h postapplication. In conclusion, the P. aduncum essential oil has the potential to be used as a repellent against the dengue/dengue hemorrhagic fever vector, Ae. albopictus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Norashiqin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Misni
authors.forename: Sallehudin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sulaiman
authors.forename: Hidayatulfathi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Othman
authors.forename: Baharudin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Omar
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes; D000818:Animals; D003671:DEET; D006801:Humans; D007302:Insect Repellents; D009032:Mosquito Control; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D031701:Piper; D010938:Plant Oils
chemical_list: D007302:Insect Repellents; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010938:Plant Oils; D003671:DEET