Introduction
“Scientists aren’t sure why, but mosquitoes don’t seem to like garlic. One study in India found that people who rubbed a garlicky concoction on their arms and legs weren’t bothered by the pesky buggers. (Alyssa Jung)” Dengue virus caused by mosquitoes are examples of why vigilant and active research continues to be important worldwide.
Background of the Study
Dengue cases are now spreading throughout the Philippines. “As recorded by the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organizaton there are 45,037 number of dengue cases with 204 deaths in the Philippines which were reported as of June 15, 2013. (http://www.wpro.who.int/emerging_diseases/DengueSituationUpdates/en/, July, 2013)” This is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are carriers to one of the most deadly illnesses. Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes caused millions of deaths worldwide every year to children and adults.
Insecticides are agents of chemical or biological origin that control insects. Control may result from killing the insect or otherwise preventing it from engaging in behaviors deemed destructive. Insecticides may be natural or manmade which mostly are in a form of spray. In this study natural components are used to formulate natural mosquito killer spray such as Garlic Oil. Garlic Oil has been used throughout history in different purposes. It has been used as a local applicant for “ring worm” (fungal dermatitis) infection of skin and a mosquito repellant. In some studies garlic is proven to be an excellent herb for creating and maintaining overall health, but it also has many lesser known, but powerful qualities. Furthermore, the oil fraction of garlic destroys certain species of mosquito larvae and the sulfurs contained within the garlic extract have been shown to be effective against a wide range of insects, including mosquitoes, and the lingering odor can deter mosquitoes from the area for weeks. This studies shows a good evidence that garlic possesses antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiprotozoan and even insect-repellent properties, which made the garlic as one of the most popular healthy herbs around today. Therefore, to widen the knowledge and create more broader study in Garlic Oil, as a mosquito spray, this garlic oil as an alternative component of a mosquito killer spray study is being conducted.
Statement of the Problem
It is the purpose of this research to investigate the effectiveness of Garlic Oil mosquito killer spray. This study aim at: (1) determining the number of mosquitoes killed in different given time with the absence and presence of garlic oil as a mosquito killer spray.
- Specifically, this study sought to answer the following queries:
What is the number of mosquitoes killed with the presence of Garlic Oil after spraying 5 sprays?
1.1 10 minutes
1.2 15 minutes
1.3 20 minutes - What is the number of mosquitoes killed with the absence of Garlic Oil ? 1.1 10 minutes
1.2 15 minutes
1.3 20 minutes
Significance of the Study
The purpose of this study is to produce a useful and natural mosquito killer spray out of Garlic Oil. The following are the beneficiaries of this product: Environment.The ingredient of the mosquito killer spray is plainly natural such as Garlic Oil, without any of the chemicals are added including the process for it is only made by pounding. DOH. A lot of Dengue Cases are now recorded by the Department of Health, Philippines or even the World Health Organization throughout the world. With the use of Garlic Oil mosquito killer spray, dengue carrier mosquitoes will be killed and the study helps the community to be a dengue-free and a healthy place to live. Mosquito Attractants.Most of us are attacked by mosquitoes. We, people can benefit from this study for we can avoid the diseases brought by mosquitoes called dengue. Most especially to the people specifically with a blood type O, beer drinkers, with the smell of dirty feet, pregnant women, wears dark coloured clothing, and who does exercising activities that extracts more of carbon dioxide and sweat and who are living in moist soils and in clean stagnant water for they are very prone attractants of mosquitoes for it is where mosquitoes lay eggs and to the institutions having campaign against dengue such as DOH, WHO and the like. By this study, they can improve their health and avoid this kind of disease. School, Students Commonly students are the victim of dengue. Using the garlic oil and Parents.mosquito killer spray as an alternative mosquito killer spray would be a great help to lessen the number of cases at the same time the number of SARDO’s (Students at Risk of Dropping Out) and the students absences. It would also help the students refrain from absenting and would able to follow and not miss their discussion and to their parents not to spend for the treatment of dengue if their child is positive in having dengue illness.
Scope and Limitations
This study is conducted to determine the effectiveness of Garlic Oil mosquito killer spray. This study is conducted only from June-August 2013. This study is focused only to mosquitoes, mosquito killer sprays and the ingredient itself Garlic Oil. The mosquitoes involved were gathered through catching using a net and a cup and were not harshly gathered. The garlic and cooking oil being used were bought and provided by the researcher herself. In the process of getting the Garlic Oil neither chemicals nor other additives are mixed except for the cooking oil.
Review of Related Literature and Studies
According to http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/mosquito/, mosquitoes are carriers, or vectors, for some of humanity’s most deadly illnesses, and they are public enemy number one in the fight against global infectious disease. Mosquito-borne diseases cause millions of deaths worldwide every year with a disproportionate effect on children and the elderly in developing countries. A virus enters the mosquito as it feeds on an infected human and is transmitted via the mosquito’s saliva to a subsequent victim. “Mosquitoes can live in almost any environment, with the exception of extreme cold weather. They favor forests, marshes, tall grasses and weeds, and ground that is wet at least part of the year. Some of their specified habitats are drainage ditches that fill during storms, woodland pools created by melting snow, or spring and early summer rains, floodplains along the banks of streams and rivers, irrigated pastures and fields, meadows and other soft ground where depressions form. (http://www.mosquitoworld.net/mosquitohabitats.php#ixzz2cMoc5UhV)” As stated in an article by U.S. health expert Lisa Collier Cool in the website http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/fit-to-post-health/7-reasons-why-attract-mosquitoes-more-others-070955591.html, “mosquitoes prefer blood type O, attracted to beer drinkers, more active during full moon, love the smell of dirty feet, mosquitoes know if a woman is pregnant, exercising ups the risk, and prefer dark coloured clothing.” Dengue is one of the most common diseases that made a mark in the Philippines. “Dengue fever claimed its 13th fatality in Cebu City in the year 2012, as the number of patients rose to 3,632 as of November 30. The City Health Department (CHD) reported that the number of cases so far in the year 2012 increased by 121 percent compared to the same period last year, which saw 1,642 dengue fever cases in the city. There were 12 deaths from January to November 30, 2011. (Sunstar Cebu, December 23, 2012)” Now, a lot of ways are considered to lessen the said illness brought by mosquitoes. One of the ways is creating a product like insecticides. Based on http://ipmworld.umn.edu/chapters/ware.htm, insecticides are agents of chemical or biological origin that control insects. Control may result from killing the insect or otherwise preventing it from engaging in behaviors deemed destructive. Insecticides may be natural or manmade and are applied to target pests in a myriad of formulations and delivery systems (sprays, baits, slow-release diffusion, etc.). The science of biotechnology has, in recent years, even incorporated bacterial genes coding for insecticidal proteins into various crop plants that deal death to unsuspecting pests that feed on them. In practical ways, natural components are used to make mosquito killer spray which is also effective one of which maybe is Garlic Oil. According to http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/garlic-benefit.shtml, garlic, Allium sativum, belongs to the onion family Alliaceae including shallots, and leek. Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both medicinal and culinary purposes.
The active component in garlic is the sulfur compound called allicin. Allicin is the chemical produced when garlic is chopped, chewed, or bruised. Allicin is quite powerful as an antibiotic and a potent agent that helps the body to inhibit the ability of germs to grow and reproduce. In fact, it’s said that 1 milligram of allicin has a potency of 15 standard units of penicillin. The site, http://www.ext.colostate.edu/safefood/newsltr/v8n1s07.html, stated that garlic is an effective mosquito repellant and it was proven through a field study conducted in India where a preparation made of 1 percent garlic oil, petroleum jelly and beeswax that was rubbed on the arms and legs of study subjects was found to be effective in preventing mosquito bites for up to eight hours. From the study of April Marie namely, The feasibility of garlic (Allium sativum L.) as pesticide in her blog at http://iluvmysuperhuman.blogspot.com/2009/04/abstract-this-study-aims-to-know-if.html she stated in her Conclusion and Recommendations that garlic pesticide is effective enough in killing cockroaches and its quality is the same in commercial pesticides. This research study defines different to other studies in a way that this study focuses only to one kind of animal namely, mosquitoes and it studies how effective the garlic oil in killing mosquitoes.
Methodology
Extraction of the Garlic Oil
125 grams cloves of peeled garlic and 30 milliliter cooking oil in a mortar will be pounded until they are thoroughly crushed and mixed. Scrape out the mixture and put it in a separate bowl. Lastly, gently drain it through a cloth and place it into the empty container spray.
Catching the Mosquitoes
10 plastic cup and a net were prepared to catch mosquitoes. Then, when a mosquito is at rest it is hurriedly caught by the researcher individually each cup and then covered with a net and tightened using a rubberband. This method is repeated 10 times. After, 5 mosquitoes are transferred in a cup covered with a net and tighten with a rubberband and then labeled set up A and another labeled with set up B with the same number of mosquitoes and also covered with a net and tightened with a rubberband and were ready for testing.
Testing the Product
5 sprays of Garlic oil will be applied on the top surface in the Set up A with 5 mosquitoes and the same number of sprays without garlic oil in Set up B also with 10 mosquitoes. After 10, 15, and 20 minutes record how many mosquitoes died each time respectively on both Set ups.
Data Gathering Technique
- Preparation Phase – the researcher gathered all the materials needed.
- Gathering the data- the setups A and B were observed with respect to the time using the stopwatch(after 10 mins, 15 mins, and 20 mins).
- Retrieval of Data- the results are then recorded from time to time using the tables below. Table 1.1
Discussions
In the presence of garlic oil, the mosquitoes were killed and showed a great difference on its absence. It also showed that takes a greater time for a mosquito to be totally killed when garlic oil is sprayed. There is also a tendency of the mosquito to be drowned when it get soaked to the garlic oil mosquito spray that settles at the bottom. Compared to the presence of garlic oil there are large number of mosquitoes left alive on the absence of garlic oil.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Conclusion
I met the purpose of the study wherein I was able to prove the effectiveness of the Garlic oil in killing mosquitoes through spraying it to them but it takes a longer time for the mosquitoes to be totally killed when sprayed with the garlic oil mosquito spray.
Recommendations
The researcher recommends the following:
it is better to use a net container, where the mosquito will be placed so there will be no tendency that mosquitoes inside the container will not be drowned when they reach the bottom part of the container, it is better to breed mosquitoes to avoid difficulty of catching mosquitoes and to have more accurate results.
Bibliography
Internet
- Dengue Situation Updates. July 10,2013.World Health Organization, Western Pacific Region. July15, 2013. An Introduction to Insecticides (4th edition). March 4, 2013. University of Minnesota. July 15,2013. The feasibility of garlic (Allium sativum L.) as pesticide. April 2, 2009. July 15,2013. Mosquito. July 15,2013.
- Garlic Facts Remedies and Health Benefits of Garlic. March 9, 2008. July 15,2013. Garlic for mosquitoes?. July 15,2013.
Jung, Alyssa. 13 Surprising Benefits of Garlic. July 15,2013. Mosquito Habitats. July 15,2013. - Aripin, Nurul Azliah. 7 reasons why you attract mosquitoes more than others.July 17,2013.
