Abstract:
The widespread presence of mosquito-borne diseases has been a burden all around the world. Cases are still rising along with the costs of diethyltoluamide or DEET-based mosquito repellents which are proven to have harmful effects on a person's health. Thus, it is vital to look back to traditional alternatives. The study aims to discern if Cinnamomum camphora leaf oil is feasible in repelling mosquitoes along with the concentrations of 75%, 50%, and 25%. Ethical considerations like proper disposal of mosquitoes and safety precautions during experimentation were observed. A descriptive and experimental design with random sampling was utilized involving 50 mosquitoes in each concentration. The mosquitoes were released in the box, C. camphora leaf oil was diffused thru an ultrasonic diffuser, and the repellency effect was noted. The data were averaged, observed, and was subjected to statistical treatment using one-way ANOVA and T-tests. Results show that C. camphora and P. kesiya treatments do repel mosquitoes, with slight differences as to varying percent concentrations. The control P. kesiya has generally stronger repellency against mosquitoes in all the concentrations than that of C. camphora except that of the 75%, which shows that both oils exhibit full repellency for both. The percent concentration plays a role in the percentage of mosquito repellency, the higher the concentration, the more mosquitoes are repelled. Conclusively, there is no significant difference between the C. camphora and P. kesiya hence, it implies that C. camphora is as good as the control P. kesiya. Furthermore, the result proposes that the C. camphora leaf oil can be a substitute for the P. kesiya oil as a mosquito repellent.
