RESEARCH

Running head: CALAMANSI AS A MOSQUITO REPELLENT

Calamansi as a Mosquito Repellent

Clarence Kim M. Cepillo
Earl Justine S.P. Balite
Zamuel R. Dela Pena
John Zedrick Tiongson
Solomon Jedidia Carpio
John Allen Flores

Marcelo H. Del Pilar National High School
Malolos City, Bulacan

Abstract
This paper investigated the effectiveness of calamansi as a mosquito repellent. The purpose of the research is to prove that calamansi could repel mosquitoes. Calamansi had chemicals that repel mosquitoes like linalool. Linalool is present is the pulp and peel of the fruit being used in the research. Linalool is a naturally occurring terpene alcohol chemical found in many flowers and spice plants with many commercial applications, the majority of which based on its pleasant scent. Also, the strong odor that is present in the peel provide a repelling effect. The researchers gave some steps to used calamansi as a mosquito repellent. The first step is to gather the extract of calamansi. The extract from calamansi repel the mosquitoes. Second, is to mix the extract with citronella oil. The calamansi extract helped the citronella oil to last longer. This is good combination because both of them has a repelling effect. To test it, the researcher asked the people living near the homes of mosquitoes to use the improvised repellent. They asked if it is an effective repellent.

Calamansi as a Mosquito Repellent Mosquitoes, even they are small, it put danger to our health. They cause diseases like dengue, malaria, and yellow fever. Dengue is disease caused by a specific kind of mosquitoes, the Aedes Aegypti. Millions of people is affected and died because of this disease around the world (WHO,2011). The particulate characteristics of dengue were high fever, headache, and skin rashes. Other symptoms were exhaustion, muscle pain, bleeding gums, and sever e pain behind the eyes (Cunha, 2013). Malaria is one of the mosquito-borne diseases (NPIC, 2013). This disease is common in the tropical countries which is also fatal. High fever which is higher than 38C, along with chills and rigors are the symptoms of this disease. Some patients experienced severe muscle pain, headache, diarrhea and vomiting. Those symptoms appear after seven days or from 10 to 15 days of being bitten (Mandal, 2014). This paper investigates past literature about the efficiency of calamansi as a mosquito repellent. In a tropical country like Philippines, rains are not new for us. However, even the rains eliminate heat on our homes, it brought new problem to us; the mosquitoes. Dengue is one of the common disease brought by the mosquitoes to the humans. Millions of people is affected and died because of this disease (Who, 2011). In fact, 117,658 peoples were affected by dengue from January to September of 2013 (DOH, 2013). On the other hand, the victims of malaria decreases. According to Secretary of Health Enrique Ona, 2011 has the lowest malaria level for the past 42 years. From 43,441 victims in 2003, it falls down to 9,642 victims on 2011. There are nine provinces that were malaria-free and those are Abra, Batanes, Camarines Sur, Cavite, Dinagat, Laguna, Misamis Oriental, Quirino and Romblon. Also, he told that there were 58 provinces that were listed as endemic. Although we already met the country’s Millennium Development Goal #6 of halting and reversing the incidence of malaria, we should not play safe. Even there ware provinces that were malaria- free, the disease can come back to that place so we still need to be careful. To prevent those diseases, one alternative way is using calamansi (Cruz, 2013). Aside from using calamansi as a mosquito repellent, there are other products that use calamansi as an ingredient. The most popular product of this fruit is juice. Here, the extract of calamansi is being mixed with water, and some people add honey or sugar to add sweetness (Vicedo et al.,n.d.). Another product that can be made from calamansi is soap. Calamansi contains ascorbic acid, phosphorus, and calcium that helps whitens our skin (Hayes, e.d.) Mosquitoes were really a big treat to our health. Government and even the private sectors were finding ways in order to control those insects. Some use of us used the traditional mosquito coils to put away mosquitoes, but it has bad effects on our health. Researchers found a huge amount of volatile organic compound, which include carcinogens. Also the present studies suggest that the PM25 that is being released through burning of mosquito coils was the same with the same as burning 51 cigarettes. Despite of the negative effect of the mosquito coils, it was still being used by many countries (Liu et al., 2003). Others use insecticides to eliminate mosquitoes. The problem of this method is mostly of those insecticides now contains organochlorine. Those components have high toxicity level which affect humans. Another way is using mosquito repellent. Mosquito repellent features citronella oil, which repels mosquitoes. According to Romanowski (n.d.), even citronella oil is effective, it has a characteristics which limit its effectiveness; its capacity to evaporate fast. Also, you need a large amount of this oil for it to be more effective. The researchers dependent hypothesis is that calamansi is can be used as an alternative mosquito repellent and the independent hypothesis is calamansi cannot be used as alternative mosquito repellant. Calamansi essence and extract has known to be safe for the humans. Also, it produces synergistic effect when it was mixed with conventional botanical insecticides and its efficiency increases (Herrera etal. 2012). The calamansi peels were more effective than its pulp when use as a repellent, and because it is just excess of calamansi, it is cheaper than the commercial repellent. It was used for repellent because calamansi has a strong odor which other insects don’t like (Cuevas, 2012). Calamansi trees grow abundantly every year. Strong smell of its peels and pulps repels the mosquitoes. Its stem is smooth and slightly spiny plant, which has a height ranging from three to five meters. Its leaflets are elliptical in shape and measures four to eight inches long. Calamansi is nearly spherical and its normal size has a diameter of two to 3.5 centimeters. Its peel is color yellow when ripe and green when unripe. Calamansi trees grows easily grown from the seeds. In our country, the peak season is from August to October. Mindoro Oriental has the largest production of calamansi in our country (Soyuz Foods, 2005)

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Literature Review Mosquitoes, even there are small, put danger to our health. They cause diseases like dengue, malaria, and yellow fever. Dengue is disease caused by a specific kind of mosquitoes, the Aedes Aegypti. Millions of people is affected and died because of this disease around the world (WHO,2011). The particulate characteristics of dengue were high fever, headache, and skin rashes. How to stop mosquitoes? How would we prevent diseases from mosquitoes that can put as to death? According to Madal, (2014) Malaria is one of the mosquito-borne diseases. This disease is common in the tropical countries which is also fatal. High fever which is higher than 38C, along with chills and rigors are the symptoms of this disease. Some patients experienced severe muscle pain, headache, diarrhea and vomiting. Those symptoms appear after seven days or from 10 to 15 days of being bitten. Dengue is one of the common diseases brought by the mosquitoes to the humans according to the Department of Health (2013). Millions of people is affected and died because of this disease. In fact, 117,658 peoples were affected by dengue from January to September of 2013 Cunha (2013) states that, the main idea about this subject is that mosquitoes are dangerous. Mosquitoes, even there are small, put danger to our health. They cause diseases like dengue, malaria, and yellow fever. Dengue is disease caused by a specific kind of mosquitoes, the Aedes Aegypti. Millions of people is affected and died because of this disease around the world (WHO,2011). The particulate characteristics of dengue were high fever, headache, and skin rashes. Other symptoms were exhaustion, muscle pain, bleeding gums, and severe pain behind the eyes.Dengue is one of the common diseases brought by the mosquitoes to the humans. In fact, 117,658 peoples were affected by dengue from January to September of 2013 (DOH, 2013). Mosquitoes do not cause only dengue, it also cause malaria. According to Secretary of Health Enrique Ona, 2011 has the lowest malaria level for the past 42 years. From 43,441 victims in 2003, it falls down to 9,642 victims on 2011. Based on the statistics, the researchers can say that the malaria cases highly decrease in 201, compared to the cases in 2003. (DOH, 2011) There are nine provinces that were malaria-free and those are Abra, Batanes, Camarines Sur, Cavite, Dinagat, Laguna, Misamis Oriental, Quirino and Romblon. Also, he told that there were 58 provinces that were listed as endemic. Although the country already met the Millennium Development Goal #6 of halting and reversing the incidence of malaria, we should not play safe. (DOH, 2011) Even there are provinces that were malaria- free, the disease can come back to that place so we still need to be careful. A 2002 study of the New England Journal of Medicine compared different synthetic chemical and herbal repellents: Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Repellent provided 120.1 minutes of mosquito protection, more than a repellent with a low concentration of the chemical DEET (Off Skintastic for Kids with 4.75% DEET provided 88.4 minutes of protection) and less than Off Deep Woods with 23.8% DEET, which provided 301.5 minutes of protection. Calamansi is an example of Repel Lemon. A study by the US Department of Agriculture compared four synthetic mosquito repellents and eight natural mosquito repellents and found that Repel Lemon Eucalyptus was the most effective repellent, more so than a 7% DEET repellent. A June 2006 Consumer Reports article stated that after conducting their own tests, Repel
Lemon Eucalyptus was the best non-DEET mosquito repellent. However, volunteers criticized its odor. Repel can be found online or is available at REI, Target and Wal-Mart.
Geranium oil and soybean oil. A repellent called Bite Blocker ranks second. The New England
Journal of Medicine study found that Bite Blocker provided 94.6 minutes of protection against mosquitos. This is slightly more effective than Off Skintastic for Kids (containing 4.75% DEET), which provided 88.4 minutes of protection. According to GMA News (2013) it is better to use natural repellants like calamansi compared to the commercial repellants. Using aerosols as an insect repellants can cause many diseases, like cancer, endocrine complications, infertility, brain damage and many more (Nursing Degree, 2011). Aside from the side effects of pesticides to our health, it has also an impact to our environment. The studies shown that the chemicals contained by the pesticides goes up into the atmosphere (Havahart, n.d.). In 1992, Rachel Carson states that birds die when they are exposed to the pesticides used to kill mosquitoes.

Methodology Nowadays many diseases are brought by mosquitoes like dengue, malaria, and yellow fever. We can prevent this by buying mosquito- repellent in stores or in market but it may have chemicals that react badly on your skin or any external organs. So instead of using of that products use natural mosquito- repellent. Calamansi is very abundant in the Philippines. Calamansi is from the rutaceae family. Like orange and lemon it is also rich in Vitamin C. Calamansi is also acidic. Its pH scale is 2.5- 3. The chemical compositions of calamansi are proteins, fat, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, iron, citric acid, ascorbic acid, limonene, linalool, terpinen-4-ol and α-terpineol (Soyuz Foods, 2003). There are chemicals that repel mosquitoes. One of those is DEET. This chemical, or the N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide, is a reliable and highly effective insect repellent. The chemical has been in public use since 1957. The repellent is sold under numerous brand names and comes in lotion, spray and many other forms.
Concentrations of DEET range from about 5% all the way up to 100%. Generally, products with higher concentrations repel insects longer. However, products with concentrations higher than about 50% do not offer significantly greater protection. For example, 50% DEET provides about 4 hours of protection against mosquitoes, but increasing the concentration to 100% gives only about one extra hour of protection. DEET must be used with proper precautions. The safe application of DEET is explained further below. Picaridin, also known as KBR 3023, is an effective alternative to DEET products which provides long-lasting protection against mosquito bites. This repellent has been used worldwide since 1998. Compared to DEET, Picaridin is nearly odorless, does not cause skin irritation, and has no adverse effect on plastics. Products with DEET and picaridin can be expected to provide better and longer-lasting protection than plant-based repellents. Permethrin is effective both as a pesticide and as a repellent. It is not for use on the skin, but is intended for clothing. Unlike DEET, Permethrin can retain its potency for at least two weeks – even through several launderings. It can be applied to clothing, tent walls, and mosquito nets. The combination of Permethrin-treated clothing and DEET products applied to skin can offer excellent protection against mosquito bites even in demanding conditions. Calamansi repel mosquitoes because of linalool present in the fruit. Linalool is a naturally occurring terpene alcohol chemical found in many flowers and spice plants with many commercial applications, the majority of which based on its pleasant scent (floral, with a touch of spiciness). It has other names such as β-linalool, linalyl alcohol, linaloyl oxide, p-linalool, allo-ocimenol, and 2, 6-dimethyl-2, 7-octadien-6-ol. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linalool). Linalool is a fragrant liquid alcohol C10H18O that occurs both free and in the form of esters in many essential oils and is used in perfumes, soaps, and flavoring materials. ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/linalool). Uses of Linalool Linalool has other uses. Linalool is used in various ways. Hygienic products often have Linalool in them as a scent agent. Linalool is commonly used as a perfume in a variety of soaps, detergents, shampoos, lotions, sanitary pads, etc. that have a minty or sweet floral scent in them. Linalool’s insecticide properties are very useful for controlling fleas and cockroaches. Since Linalool is generally non-toxic to humans and animals, it is a very useful alternative to toxic insecticides. Insecticides that primarily consist of Linalool can be placed anywhere on a property without the fear of hurting animals. Linalool is an ingredient in some mosquito repellents. Linalool’s efficiency as a mosquito repellent has not been tested on all mosquito strains. Mosquito repellents that list Linalool as the active ingredient are questionable due to the absence of data on the efficacy of Linalool as a mosquito repellent. Vitamin E is a common byproduct of Linalool production. Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin that the body uses in different ways. It can be used to reduce the visual effects of aging by moisturizing the cells and reducing the effect of free radicals. It can also help scars and other forms of dermal layer damage heal. Vitamin E provides several health benefits when taken in moderation. Taking a dose of well over 400 IU (International Units) or 268 mg (0.26 grams) can increase the risk of death in adults. Aromatherapy or therapy via aromatic compounds has become popular in recent decades. Linalool, when used as an aroma-therapeutic tool, is thought to lower stress levels. This has been shown in experiments where rats are placed in stressful conditions. After inhaling the Linalool scents, the rats’ stress levels and immune responses lowered to near normal in comparison to control rats. Although not fully tested outside lab tests on rats, it is claimed that using Linalool in aromatherapy can help to soothe stress and provide relief from a wide range of ailments, from allergies to headaches (Linalool, n.d.). Because of the chemicals in the calamansi, it can be used as a mosquito repellant. First, the researchers gather the extract of calamansi. After this, it is blended with citronella oil to provide long lasting repellant. The calamansi prevent the citronella oil to evaporate fast. It is effective combination because both of them highly repel the mosquitoes. To prove that the calamansi is an effective repellant, it will be tested in the areas which are the homes of mosquitoes. The researchers will request the people living on those areas to apply the improvised repellant. After 6 hour, the participants will be interviewed about the effectiveness of the repellant.