The Repellent Activity of Piper aduncum Linn (Family: Piperaceae) Essential Oil against Aedes aegypti Using Human Volunteers

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Keywords:
Aedes aegypti Piper aduncum repellent

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Norashiqin Misni
Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sallehudin Sulaiman
Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Hidayatulfathi Othman
Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract

Abstract

This study investigated the repellency of Piper aduncum essential oil against Ae. aegypti under laboratory conditions, using human volunteers. Optimum repellency (ED50 value 1.236 μgcm-2 and ED90 0.845 μgcm-2) occurred at 90 seconds’ exposure. Exposures of 60 and 120 seconds yielded much higher ED50 values (2.4170 μgcm-2 and 1.8161 μgcm-2, respectively). There was no significant difference between the ED50 value of the essential oil and DEET (P > 0.05). P. aduncum essential oil on human skin, at a concentration of 0.4 g, showed an immediate 100% reduction in Ae. aegypti mosquito bite, which reduced to 70.03% at hour 8 post-treatment. Treatment with 10% DEET yielded an immediate 100% reduction until hour 4, then reduced to 73.88% at hour 8 post-treatment. There was no significant difference between the plant essential oil and the commercial product DEET (p > 0.05). Thus, P. aduncum essential oil is a potential repellent against dengue/dengue hemorrhagic fever vectors.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Piper aduncum; repellent

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 31 No. 2: December 2008
Section
Original Articles