Evaluation of the potential of Pelargonium Radula extract in repelling Aedes Aegypti

Abstract

Pelargonium radula (geranium) essential oil has been traditionally used to kill or repel mosquito. This study was performed to obtain information on the yield of geranium extract, its chemical composition and the potency of geranium extract. Geranium extracts were obtained using solvent extraction and steam distillation methods. Solvent extraction produced higher yield (7.94%) compared to steam distillation (2.54%). GC and GC/MS analysis of geranium revealed that its major constituent was geraniol (28.51%). Geranium oil was tested for their repellency activity against adult female mosquito dengue hemorrhagic fever, Aedes aegypty. Repellency test was evaluated using a repellency kit with humans as volunteers. Geranium oil extracted using steam distillation gave stronger activity with median effective concentration value (EC50) of 0.0051 mg cm-2 compared to the geranium oil extracted using solvent extraction ( EC50 of 0.0267 mg cm"),