Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin Blanco) Oil-Based Products as Housefly Repellent

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONVector-borne diseases rely upon most of the insects. Because of this, commercial insecticides and repellents in any forms are readily available in the market. However, use of synthetic chemical may alsoaffect the person exposed to it. Therefore, use of organic material that has an ability to repel insects specifically housefly is the outmost concern of this study. This study aimed to determine the acceptability of Patchoulli (Pogostemon cablin Blanco) Oil-Based Products as Housefly Repellent in terms of number of housefly repelled at a given reaction time, duration of efficiency, odor and functionality.

METHOD

SThe study employed experimental research design in developing and testing the acceptability of Patchoulli (Pogostemon cablin Blanco) Oil-Based Products as Housefly Repellent in terms of number of housefly repelled at a given reaction time and duration of efficiency. Bioassay testing was used to test the repellency activity of Patchouli Oil-based products. The gathered data were treated using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Whereas, the descriptive research design was utilized to determine the acceptability of these products in terms of odor and functionality. The data gathered were treated using Meanand Standard Deviation.RESULTSBioassay test showed that electric mat has the highest housefly repellency activity followed by oil burner, candle, reed diffuser, and essential oil. Spatial repellent devices using heat source repel housefly instantly however they evaporate faster. With respect to duration of efficiency, Patchouli essential oil, reed diffuser, electric mat, and candle last longer compared to oil burner. This conformed the above results that concentrated oil with direct contact to heat diffused faster. In addition, the duration of efficiency depends on substance and type of diffuser to be used. The higher temperature and concentration of substance have higher rate of diffusion. Because of this, Patchouli Oil-based products were very acceptable in terms of odor and functionality. They have the ability to repel housefly with no irritating smell and harmful chemicals that might harm human and even animals exposed to it.

DISCUSSIONS

Based on the findings, Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin Blanco) showed repellency to housefly. Spatial devices using source of heat and concentrated substance diffuses faster. This resulted to repel more houseflies. Therefore, research hypothesis, which states that there is no significant difference in the acceptability of the Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin Blanco) oil-based products as housefly repellent in terms of number of housefly repelled at a given reaction time, duration of efficiency, odor, and functionality was partially sustained.