Abstract:
The aim of the present study is to formulate mosquito repellent herbal
cream and evaluate its in vitro mosquito repellent activity against Aedes
aegypti, Anopheles stephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus. Oil in water
emulsion based 5% w/w active ingredient cream was formulated by using
fresh flower extract of marigold and observed for physical stability
parameters (pH, appearance, washability and colour) for 45 days at room
temperature. The mosquito repellent efficacy of the cream was tested by
applying 1 g of herbal cream formulated on the dorsal hand area (25 cm2) of
one person of the trained panel. The treated hand and untreated hand
(negative control) were exposed to 100 caged, blood-starved, laboratory
bred female mosquitoes of three species and repellency test was performed
for 300 min. and numbers of mosquitoes sitting on the hand were counted at
every 30 min. The formulated cream was found to be homogenous, semisolid,
washable and yellow colour and pH was in the range of 6-7. Total
protection without sitting or biting of all three species of mosquitoes were
recorded up to 180 minutes for formulated cream and percentage of
repellency was calculated as 95.405± 6.042%. A commercial herbal cream
was tested as positive control and it was protected from mosquitoes sitting
or biting up to only 30 minutes and repellency percentage was 46.677±
41.335%. The results showed that the cream formulated with extract of
Tagetes erecta fresh flowers had the potential mosquito repellent activity
against Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus
bites.
