DEVELOPMENT OF MOSQUITO REPELLENT TEXTILE USING ZANTHOXYLUM LIMONELLA ESSENTIAL OIL WITH KNIFE-COATING PROCESS: A PRELIMINARY REPORT

Zanthoxylum limonella essential oil, which has mosquito repellent property was coated on plain white cotton fabric by a knife-coating method, one of the popular techniques for applying relatively small amounts of textile materials to help create a very thin layer on fabric surface. The essential oil was applied at 15, 20, 25 and 30% (W/W) concentrations to confirm repellent effect against Aedes aegypti mosquito employing a multi-chamber-blood-feeding system under laboratory conditions. The most effective coating was obtained with 30% (W/W) concentration with repellent activity longer than 30 minutes, with 10% mosquitoes knock-down phenomenon observed . The results suggest low-cost knife-coating technique of essential oil is an alternative potential method for developing a surface application on fabrics to produce mosquito-repellent textiles.