Study of the Repellent Activity of 60 Essential Oils and Their Main Constituents against Aedes albopictus, and Nano-Formulation Development

Abstract

Mosquitoes are one of the most important disease vectors from a medical viewpoint in that they transmit several diseases such as malaria, filariasis, yellow and Dengue fever. Mosquito vector control and personal protection from mosquito bites are currently the most efficient ways to prevent these diseases. Several synthetic repellents such as DEET, ethyl butylacetylaminopropionate (IR3535) and 1-(1-methylpropoxycarbonyl)-2-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperidine) (Picaridin), have been widely used to prevent humans from receiving mosquito bites. However, the use of synthetic repellents has raised several environment and health concerns. Therefore, essential oils (EOs) as natural alternatives receive our attention. In order to discover highly effective mosquito repellents from natural sources, the repellent activity of 60 commercial EOs against Ae. albopictus was screened in this study. Eight EOs including cinnamon, marjoram, lemongrass, bay, chamomile, jasmine, peppermint2, and thyme, showed a suitable repellent rate (>40%) at the tested dose of 10 μg/cm2. Then, their main constituents were analyzed by GC-MS, and the active constituents were identified. The most active compounds including cinnamaldehyde, citral and terpinen-4-ol, exhibited an 82%, 65% and 60% repellent rate, respectively. Moreover, the nanoemulsions of the three active compounds were prepared and characterized. In the arm-in-cage assay, the protection times of the nanoemulsions of cinnamaldehyde and citral were significantly extended compared with their normal solutions. This study provides several lead compounds to develop new mosquito repellents, and it suggests that nanoemulsification is an effective method for improving the duration of the activity of natural repellents.

Keywords: Aedes albopictus; essential oil; nanoemulsion; repellent.

Figure 1

Repellent activity test device.

Figure 2

Repellency rate of the main constituents of the 8 most active EOs.

Figure 3

Chemical structures of 9 active constituents from 8 active EOs.

Figure 4

Droplet size distribution of three nanoemulsions ((A) cinnamaldehyde; (B) citral; (C) terpinen-4-ol).

Figure 5

Particle size changes of three nanoemulsions ((A) cinnamaldehyde; (B) citral; (C) terpinen-4-ol) for 28 days at 4 °C and 25 °C (compared with 0 day, ** means p ≤ 0.01; *** means p ≤ 0.001; **** means p ≤ 0.0001).

Figure 6

Droplet of cinnamaldehyde nanoemulsion under TEM. ((A) × 20,000 magnification; (B) × 40,000 magnification).