Synergistic effect of two medicinal plants in cream formulation on repellency of vector mosquito and rove beetle

Domestic pests are major arthropod vectors responsible for several pathogenic diseases. In recent years, repellents of botanical origin, particularly essential oils, have been used against mosquitoes and have been found effective and safe. In this study, four different repellent cream formulations (I-IV) were prepared using combinations of essential oils, including Matricaria chamomilla, Rosmarinus officinalis and their repellency was tested using Culex pipiens, Anopheles stephensi, and Paederus fuscipes under laboratory conditions and compared to the standard synthetic repellent N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET-12%, w/w). Among the four cream formulations, IV at a dose of 5 mg/cm2 showed the longest protection time of 289 and 275 min against C. pipiens and A. stephensi, respectively, under laboratory conditions. The formulations IV had 91% repellency against P. fuscipes that was near to chemical repellent DEET. The antibacterial effects of essential oils in three kinds of cream formulation were tested that mixed formulation had more antibacterial activity. The cream formulation IV showed the best mosquito biting symptom healing. Thus, formulations IV could be used in developing an effective natural repellent, antibacterial and healing the bite symptoms as an alternative to the existing synthetic repellents.