OBJECTIVES Repellents do not kill mosquitoes--they simply reduce human-vector contact. Thus it is possible that individuals who do not use repellents but dwell close to repellent users experience more bites than otherwise. The objective of this study was to measure if diversion occurs from households that use repellents to those that do not use repellents. METHODS The study was performed in t...

BACKGROUND The usage of insect repellent plants (IRPs) is one of the centuries-old practices in Africa. In Ethiopia, malaria remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, subsequently the majority of people have a tendency to apply various plants as repellents to reduce or interrupt the biting activity of insects. Accordingly, this survey was undertaken to document and evaluate knowledge ...

Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the efficacy of sugarcane bagasse-based lignin against four stored grain insect pests viz., Tribolium castaneum, Tribolium confusum, Sitophilus oryzae and Callosobruchus maculatus. Mortality was assessed after 24, 48 and 72 h of treatment and LD50 values were calculated at the respective time intervals. It was observed that T. castaneum is ...

In this article it is claimed that in order to obtain the right composition, structure, and functionality for a new product, one needs to anticipate what the demand of the product will be and take into account all costs involved (associated manufacturing and supply chain). To obtain the demand, one needs a pricing model, which in turn relies on consumer preferences that are connected to the pro...

Five varieties of napiergrasses (Pennisetum purpureum) were fractionated botanically into leaf blade, leaf sheath, stem and head. Chemical composition of each of whole napiergrass and their botanical fractions were determined. Correlation, linear and multiple regressions between botanical fractions and nutritive value of varieties of napiergrass were also estimated. All botanical fractions diff...

The use of botanical dietary supplements has grown steadily over the last 20 years despite incomplete information regarding active constituents, mechanisms of action, efficacy, and safety. An important but underinvestigated safety concern is the potential for popular botanical dietary supplements to interfere with the absorption, transport, and/or metabolism of pharmaceutical agents. Clinical t...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Various plant-based products are safe and biodegradable alternatives to synthetic chemicals for use against mosquitoes. Oil of Pinus longifolia is traditionally used for protection against mosquitoes in some rural areas but there is no documented report of its use against mosquitoes. The present study was undertaken to scientifically evaluate the activity of Pine oil a...

Megalurothrips sjostedti Trybom is an important pest of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) in Africa. To propose an alternative to chemical control, the repellency of 24 plant extracts was evaluated against adult female thrips of M. sjostedti in the laboratory. Plant extracts in ethanol were separately applied on a filter paper disk in a still air visual cue olfactometer. The results showed highly s...

Kew Gardens in London opened last month the first gallery in the world to open all year round dedicated to botanical illustrations. The gallery will showcase art from Kew’s unique historic collections as well as Shirley Sherwood’s contemporary collection of botanical art. The two collections, which complement each other, will allow Kew to show to the public many of its largely unseen works and ...

The insect repellent N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET), is a multimodal compound that acts as a spatial repellent as well as an irritant (contact repellent), thus being perceived by the insect's olfactory and gustatory systems as an odorant and a tastant, respectively. Soon after DEET was developed, almost 6 decades ago, it was reported that it reduced mosquito feeding on blood mixed with th...