Gracededenisse D.
Cueto
8-SSC
Make All-Natural Insect Repellent with mango leaves
Introduction
Insects are animals with six legs and one or two pairs of wings, a very good example is a
mosquito. A mosquito is a blood-sucking insect that is a big trouble to humans. It has the ability
to carry and spread diseases like dengue and malaria that causes millions of deaths every year. A
way to protect humans from insects like mosquitoes is using insect repellents that works by
masking the human scent. Mosquito repellents based on chemicals have a high safety profile, but
they are toxic to the skin and nervous system, causing rashes, swelling, eye irritation, or other
severe issues, like brain swelling in children, anaphylactic shock, and low blood pressure, but
these are uncommon (Pandey et al., 2013). Which is why using natural insect repellents made
from plants like mango is advisable.
Mango (mangifera indica) is a flowering plant you can see in our country it’s fruit is
packed with nutrients and loved by many. On the other hand the leaves of a mango tree just falls
down and scattered under the tree. Mango contains beneficial chemical compounds like Vitamin-
A and flavonoids (beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin) that can treat various
diseases (Alfa et al., 2020).
The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of using mango leaves as
insect repellents. This is to provide a product made out of mango leaves that could help lessen
the diseases that comes from insects. To reduce spending money by using natural resources that
can be found easily and to help solve the waste problems because of the scattered mango leaves
in a community.
Statement of the problem
This study aims to determine if using mango leave as an ingredient for a product have an
effect in repelling insects. Specifically, it is sought to answer the following questions:
1. Is using mango leaves as an ingredient for an insect repellent effective?
2. How producing a natural insect repellent help lessen the insect related diseases?
3. How using mango leaves help lessen the scattered leaves in a community?
4.
Significance of the study
The research will be help and benefit the following:
Students. This would help them understand the significance of using mango leaves as a
main ingredient for insect repellent.
Parents. This study can serve as a guide on how they can take care of their children to
make them safe.
Community. This study gives significant informations about the diseases that humans
get from mosquitoes and how you can prevent them.
Environment. This study can help the environment by reducing the mango leaves waste
scattered in the streets and under the trees.
Future researcher. This study will serve as a reference data that can be used by future
researchers.
Related Literatures and Studies
According to Elena Ragragio (2014). Mosquitoes transmit a variety of diseases,
including malaria and dengue fever Mouthparts of these hematophagous insects can infect the
host with viruses or plasmodia by penetrating the skin. Pesticide spraying and fumigation have
been used to help reduce the spread of dengue fever by eliminating or reducing disease-carrying
mosquitoes. However, the environmental and health risks associated with these technologies are
widely recognized.
According to D M Pandey, et al. (2013). The use of synthetic pesticides to control
insects and arthropods currently raises various environmental and human health problems.
Natural products which are both effective and environmentally friendly offer an option. Essential
oils from plants belonging to a variety of species have been thoroughly investigated to determine
their repelling characteristics as a valuable natural resource.
According to Marta Maia and Sarah Moore (2011). As the field of plant-based
repellents progresses, Consumers are looking for ways to protect themselves from arthropods
bites that are safe, enjoyable, and environmentally friendly sustainable. Plant-based repellents are
believed to be safer than DEET because they are natural. However, some natural repellents are
safer than others, and natural doesn't often mean safe.
According to Abdullahi Attah Alfa, et al. (2020). The qualitative phytochemical
analysis of Mangifera indica revealed the presence of many medicinally important secondary
metabolites, including alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, and total phenol, with no trace of
cardiac glycosides, indicating that the plant (Mangifera indica) has high profile values and can be
used to treat a variety of diseases and heal wounds, due to the strongly positive inferences of
tannins and total phennols. The antioxidant total phenol is beneficial.
Methodology
A. Preparation Process
Twenty (20) estimated
lemongrass leaves with its roots
will be collected
for the extraction process.
The lemongrass leaves will
be cleaned and dried
before doing the extraction
process to avoid other
substances to be extracted
Twenty (20) estimated mango leaves will be collected for the extraction process. The
mango leaves will be cleaned before doing the extraction process to avoid other substances to be
extracted during the process. The extracted mango leaves will be stored in a bottle.
B. Extraction Process
Extracting the mango leaves oil will be done through Decoction, the mango leaves will
be boiled in a specified volume of water for a defined time, it will then be cooled and strained or
filtered.
C. Making the Insect Repellent
In making the mango leaves repellent mixture, the following are the materials needed:
10 ml of mango leaves extract
10 ml of water
Ginger
Below is the procedure on making insect repellent out of mango leaves:
Peel the ginger and cut it into small pieces
Mix the mango leaves extract, water, and small pieces of ginger.
Pour the mixture in a spray bottle
Reference:
Rani N., Wany A., Vidyarthi A.S., & Pandey, D.M., (2013). Study of Citronella leaf based
herbal mosquito repellents using natural binders. Current Research in Microbiology and
Biotechnology, 1(3), 98-103.
Ali B. A., Alfa A. A., Tijani K.B., Idris E. T., Unoyiza U. S., & Junaidu Y., (2020). Nutritional
Health Benefits and Bioactive Compounds of Mangifera indica L (Mango) Leaves
Methanolic Extracts. Asian Plant Research Journal, 6(2), 41-51.
Maia M. & Moore, S., (2011). Plant-based insect repellents: a review of their efficacy,
development and testing. Malaria Journal, 10(1),
Ragragio E. & Obico J.(2014). A survey of plants used as repellents against hematophagous
insects by the Ayta people of Porac, Pampanga province, Philippines. 7(1), 179-186.
