Abstract

PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF POLY HERBAL MOSQUITO REPELLENT CREAM

Dr. Vijaya Sindhuri Gopu*, Harsh Pratap Singh, Nagari Shejal, Aedugani Sri
Sharan, Polukanti Usha Rani and Mohammed Imran

ABSTRACT

Mosquito act as a vector which carries many disease-causing parasitesand viruses. A mosquito belongs to the insect-family Culicidae, orderDiptera, suborder Nematocera and class Insecta. Preventing mosquitospread is immensely necessary to stop the spread of various contagiousdiseases. There is a growing consensus that polyherbal mosquitorepellent formulations are safer and have fewer side effects than othersynthetic chemical preparation. There are several ways in which herbalproducts can be obtained, including squeezing herbs, roasting them,steaming them, decocting or infusing them in water, and extractingthem using alcohol. The resultant herbal products are tinctures, juices,gums, fixed oils, essential oils, resins, decoctions, and infusions. Aspart of the proposed study, three essential oils were selected for thedevelopment of cream repellents for mosquitoes: Cymbopogon nardus(Poaceae), Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae), and Ocimum basilicum(Lamiaceae). The polyherbal cream was successfully developed for topical administration, asthe topical route provides the best repellent activity. As part of the development process, thecream was evaluated for its physical appearance as well as for its pH, skin retention time, andmosquito-repellent activity.

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