Plant-derived insecticide repellents for disease vectors: Allium ascalonicum (L.) leaf-extract repels Yellow Fever vector- Aedes aegypti

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-970-4_38How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Aedes mosquitoes; shallot leaves; repellence; mortality; residual activity

Abstract

Yellow fever transmitted by Aedes aegypti is endemic in Ghana. There is currently no known cure, and management involves vaccination and prevention of mosquito bites. Shallot (Allium ascalonicum L.), a member of the onion family widely used for flavouring, produces pungent-smelling leaves traditionally believed to repel flies, suggests a potential mosquito-repellent property. This study examined the dose–response mosquito-repellent activity of aqueous extracts from dried shallot leaves against laboratory-reared female Aedes aegypti. Unfed, host-seeking females were exposed to a human bait treated with plant extract, and landing counts were used to assess repellency, mortality rate, and residual activity of the leaf extract formulation. Phytochemical analysis of the leaves revealed the presence of reducing sugar, polyuronides, polyphenolic compound, anthracenosides, flavonoids, and phytosterols. After the first 60 min of test, 0.60 mg/g extract concentration achieved mean percentage repellence of 32.5% and 9% (+ 1.7) mortality. Extract concentration 0.25 mg/g showed a mean percentage repellence of 12.9% with significant differences in mosquito landing counts at 5 min (p = 0.00) and at 60min (p = 0.01). Generally, there was a sharp drop in residual activity with time for the different concentrations tested. The trend shows 0.60 mg/g extract concentration displayed a classical repellent profile while the lower concentrations were indeterminate. The polar constituents of shallot leaves may have mosquito-repellent properties, supporting their potential as eco-friendly plant-based alternative to synthetic agents like N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) for insecticide resistance management in yellow fever control.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ahiabor Charity
AU  - Azumah Kojo Bright
AU  - Osei H. N. Joseph
AU  - Gordon Andrew
AU  - Dadzie Samuel
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
TI  - Plant-derived insecticide repellents for disease vectors: Allium ascalonicum (L.) leaf-extract repels Yellow Fever vector- Aedes aegypti
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering, Science, and Urban Sustainability (ICESUS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 612
EP  - 622
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-970-4_38
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-970-4_38
ID  - Charity2025
ER  -