Abstract:
Mosquito-borne diseases pose a major public health concern worldwide. There are some preventive measures, such as sprays, creams, roll-ons and coils, as traditional methods that have both synthetic chemicals and plant-based ingredients to reduce the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. To improve prolonged mosquito repellent with minimal harmful chemicals, researchers have shifted towards mosquito repellent textiles such as bedsheets, curtains, clothing, etc., with natural plant-based extracts.
The main objective of this research was to develop a mosquito repellent finish using Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) plant extract. Bleached 100% cotton fabric was dyed in black colour using reactive dye to attract more mosquitoes, and the dyed fabric was used as the control sample. Tulsi leaf extract and Tulsi powder extract were applied separately to dyed cotton fabrics using the Pad-Dry-Cure method. Samples treated with Tulsi leaf extract and Tulsi powder extract exhibited 60% and 90% repellence, respectively. Due to the greater repellence behaviour of Tulsi Powder, the sample treated with Tulsi powder was subjected to washing cycles, and repellence was dropped to 10% after ten washing cycles.
To enhance the mosquito repellence behaviour, fabric samples were treated with microencapsulated Tulsi at 20ml and 30ml concentrations of Tulsi powder extracts. Fabric treated with microencapsulated 20ml of Tulsi extract showed 50% initial mosquito repellence, which reduced to 20% after ten washing cycles.
In contrast, a fabric sample treated with microencapsulated 30ml of Tulsi extract exhibited 90% initial repellence, reducing to 40% after ten washing cycles. After ten washing cycles, the Pad-Dry-Cure-treated sample showed a gray scale rating of 1-2, and the microencapsulated sample that used 30ml Tulsi extract showed improved performance with a gray scale rating of 3-4 for colourfastness. FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectroscopy confirmed the presence of bioactive compounds of Tulsi on the fabric surface after being subjected to repeated washing cycles. Therefore, it is recommended that the microencapsulation method with 30ml Tulsi extract as a mosquito repellent finish for cotton fabrics, based on the results obtained in this research work. However, further investigations are to be carried out varying parameters such as the concentration of Tulsi, fabric types and application method to enhance the effectiveness of mosquito repellence.
