La Consolacion College – Liloan, Cebu Inc.

THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF LEMONGRASS AS A
N AT U R A L A LT E R N AT I V E
INSECT REPELLENT
Presented By:
Ajo , Hannah Shane
Antolijao , Jean
Aranda , Kayla Gabrielle
Baculi , Jann Louie
Labares , Christian Paul
Ragas , Christopher Shane
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
INTRODUCTION
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
STATEMENT OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM
HYPOTHESES
SCOPE AND LIMITATION
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
DEFINITION OF TERMS
INTRODUCTION
Insect repellents (also commonly called “bug sprays”) are
substances applied to the skin, clothing, or other surfaces which
discourages insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or
climbing on that surface. They are important tools of public health
to prevent infectious vector borne diseases (Goddard, 2002).
According to Amerasinghe (2006), major health gains and
important constraint on development in poor regions can be the
results if there are actions to prevent arthropod borne diseases.
These insect repellents help prevent and control the outbursts of
insect borne diseases, and dengue fever. Basically, a repellent is
any chemical or natural product that causes insects or other
arthropods to avoid or move away from the source of repellent and
lemon grass can be used as a natural insect repellent.
INTRODUCTION
Lemon grass is popularly used for medical, food and insect
repellent products according to an article of new tech bio.
Cosmetics, soaps, perfumes, dye and odorizes along with
thousands of other products contains lemon grass oils. In the
Philippines, its local name is “tanglad” and usually used in cooking.
According to Encyclopedia.com (2019), it grows around 8 feet in
height; light shade of yellow-green in color and in some cases with
the majority of species shrinks off at 4 feet and usually found in
tropical countries in Asia such as India, Ceylon, Brazil, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Guatemala, Madagascar, Mauritius, New Guinea and
countries in Africa and South Africa.
INTRODUCTION
A number of repellent products contain chemical
compound like DEET (N, N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) used as active
chemical component in insect repellent, are now turn to all natural
ingredients as more and more negative data is released. Lemon
grass is listed on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s and
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)’s list which means it is
extremely safe (Gumban, 2019). Individuals everywhere throughout
the world have come to depend on the strong insect repellent
properties of lemon grass and use it as an individual and area
spray.
INTRODUCTION
Insect repellents may have different characteristics but serve
the same purpose and it is keeping insects that carry disease away
from us and from our area. We have come to terms that this is the
topic that we want to learn and talk about in our project. We
wanted to conduct a research about the effectiveness of lemon
grass oil as a natural insect repellent. We want to learn what the
lemon grass oil will do to the mosquitoes, flies and other insects if
they get close. We want to study about this so that people will try to
use natural (plant-based) repellents like lemon grass because it is
very easy to make and use.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
STATEMENT OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM
This research aims to create a Natural Alternative Insect Repellent with the
use of Lemongrass Oil.

Specifically, the research aims to answer the following:

1. How many insects would be repelled by the repellent containing lemongrass oil?

2. How much lemongrass is needed to repel the insects?

3. How long does the effectivity of the lemongrass oil lasts?

4. Is lemongrass oil as an insect repellent;

4.1 Affordable?
4.2 Safe?
HYPOTHESES
Alternative Hypothesis
There is a significant difference in using lemongrass oil as an
effective natural alternative insect repellent.

Null Hypothesis
There is no significant difference in using lemongrass oil as an
effective natural alternative insect repellent.
SCOPE AND LIMITATION
This research focuses on the effectiveness of lemongrass oil
as an alternative insect repellent. This study is limited to testing
insect repellent made from lemongrass on mosquitoes and ants.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will be conducted for the benefit of the following:

For the Future Researchers that they could improve this study by adding more
relevant data about the safety and effectiveness of lemongrass as an alternative
insect repellent.

For the Students in Senior High School that this could help them understand the
significance of lemongrass as a main ingredient for making insect repellent and
how safe it would be for them to use it every single day.

For the Parents/Guardians that this will serve as a guide for taking care of their
children and for keeping them safe.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

For the Society that this could give them knowledge about the importance of
lemongrass as an insect repellent and to raise awareness on how to prevent
insect – borne diseases.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Alcohol is the type of mixture used to neutralize lemongrass oil and
water.

Insect repellent refers to the output made from lemongrass oil.

Lemongrass oil refers to the type of essential extracted from

lemongrass stalks.

Long-lastingness refers to the length of time for the repellency of

lemongrass oil from insects.

Safety refers to the level of effectiveness of lemongrass oil in repelling

insects when applied to skin.
CHAPTER II
R E V I E W O F S C I E N T I F I C L I T E R AT U R E
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The review of literature for this study focuses on the
properties, benefits and effectiveness of Lemongrass as a Natural
Insect Repellent. Using Lemongrass as an insect repellent with its
pleasing aroma and overall effectiveness has become one of the
most popular of all natural insect repellents. The following factors
are discussed further with its relation in our study:

1. Insecticidal Properties of Lemongrass

2. Benefits of Lemongrass Oil as Natural Alternative Insect Repellent
3. Effectiveness of Natural Insect Repellent
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
1. Insecticidal Properties of Lemongrass

Lemongrass has insecticidal properties and the extracted oil is used as

insect repellent. Its extracted oil will help repel mosquitoes. The oil of the
lemongrass is extracted by steam distillation which is simply by pouring boiling
water over foilage. (Cruz, 2004)

From the Weed Society of Pakistan (wssp.org.pk), it is stated that the

components of lemongrass oil varies with where they are planted. Hence, major
constituents of lemongrass oil are citral, geraniol, mycerence, citronellal and
limonene. According to homeguides.safegate.com, lemongrass gas large
amount of geranial and neral and small amounts of geraniol and citronellal
which are used for repelling insects.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
1. Insecticidal Properties of Lemongrass

Citronella Grass (Lemongrass) are the species used for the production of
citronella oil, which is used in soaps, as a mosquito repellent in insects sprays and
candles, and also in aromatherapy. The oil of Citronella has been used for over
50 years as an insect repellent. Research has shown that citronella helps to
reduce mosquito landing around 40%. It works on insects without harming or
killing them. It has a distinctive odor which may make it difficult for some insect to
locate the host. (Ghosh, 2005)
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2. Benefits of Lemongrass Oil as Natural Alternative Insect Repellent

As stated by organicfacts.net, some health benefits that lemongrass oil

gives is that it is analgesic, meaning they relieve pain. The oil is also an anti-
depressant, at the same time antibacterial.

Aegis Pest Services states that, “Unlike the DEET insect repellent spray,
which can be poisonous, lemongrass is organic and safe. It is also registered in
the list of EPA-GRAS, or what the Environmental Protection Agency considers
generally safe. It doesn’t contain any chemical substances that may irritate a
sensitive sin immediately.
REVIEW OF RELATED SCIENTIFIC
LITERATURE
Another certain benefit of making lemongrass as an insect repellent is its
financial benefit, it is said that some bottle of lemongrass insect repellent costs
Php 40.00. it is highly affordable than the other chemical insect repellent that
can be bought in the market. (Rica Fernandez, 2013)
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
3. Effectiveness of Natural Insect Repellent

As said by thehealthvermont.gov, natural insect repellents are safer than

DEET components of a repellent. The benefit of natural insect/mosquito repellent
such as catnip, critonella, and lemongrass is that they can drive insects away
because of their sweet and strong smell, herbs that contain these essential oils
and other components that the insects dislike are effective in keeping the insects
away, it is safe to say that children (that use these natural repellents) can play in
their backyard and can do activities outdoors without worrying about insect
bites.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
3. Effectiveness of Natural Insect Repellent

Lemongrass as an insect repellent is relatively effective, and its oil finds

widespread use on its own or in combination with other similar compounds.
Lemongrass should deter many bugs from ruining a nice night on the deck or a
fun day of playing in the backyard. Lemongrass as a mosquito repellent works,
though not as well as the strong, potentially harmful chemicals in commercial
insecticides. (Johnson, 2019)
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
3. Effectiveness of Natural Insect Repellent

There are some studies stated that in oils like lemongrass, lavender,
peppermint, cedar, critonella, geranium and other mosquito – repellent plants
will keep insects away for between 30 minutes and two hours. Generally
speaking, these oils can be used topically without issue. (George et. al., 2006)

It should be noted that pure lemongrass oil can be hazardous to human

skin. However, for safe use, you must dilute lemongrass oil with water or even
alcohol. (Aegis Pest Services, LTC., 2018)
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In conclusion, lemongrass oil is really the important component of
lemongrass that can be used as an insect repellent. Using lemongrass oil as
insect repellent provides lots benefits such as health benefits and financial
benefit which is its affordability. This, for safe use, lemongrass oil is mixed by water
and alcohol. Furthermore, these related studies how the factors of lemongrass to
make an alternative insect repellent.
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter contains the process used in determining the
effectiveness of lemongrass. Moreover, this chapter includes the
Research Design, Research Environment, Research Respondents, and
Research Procedure.

Research Design

This study was experimental research design to collect and gather

data. By conducting experiments on human’s hand and insects,
specifically, mosquitoes and ants, this research hopes to show the
efficacy of lemongrass oil as insect repellent.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Environment

This study will be conducted at Christopher Shane Ragas’

Residence for it is safe and convenient to the fellow researchers. The
location of this residence is in Cotcot, Liloan, 6002 Philippines. Liloan is a
municipality in the northern part of Cebu Province. The residence can
ensure the safety of the researchers while doing the experiments.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Subject

The research subject to be observed and experimented is Aida

Pateño, a neighbor of one of the researchers, and insects, specifically,
mosquitoes and ants. The human subject’s location is in Cotcot, Liloan, 6002
Philippines and does not have any internal or external allergies to lemongrass
which makes the subject suitable for this experiment. For the insects,
mosquitoes and ants were chosen for they have this characteristic in which
they would bite exposed skin of a human if it was not applied with any insect
repellent product. Since this research will test the effectivity of lemongrass as
a natural insect repellent, mosquitoes and ants are suitable to be the subject
because of this specific characteristic.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Subject

The sampling technique used in selecting the participant belongs to the Non-
Probability sampling technique which is the Convenience sampling because
the participant was selected based on availability and willingness to take
part for this experiment.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Instruments

The data obtained for this study will be gathered from the series of
experiments conducted. The researchers of this study will use various
extraction tools for the extraction process such as a strainer, curve pot
cover and a stainless or steel glass receiving vessel. For making the
lemongrass insect repellent mixture, the researchers will use lemongrass
essential oil, chopped lemongrass, water and alcohol.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Procedure

Data Gathering. The data were obtained from experiments conducted.

A. Preparation Process

Lemongrass leaves with its roots will be collected for the extraction
process. The lemongrass leaves will be cleaned and dried before doing
the extraction process to avoid other substances to be extracted during
the process. The extracted lemongrass substance will be stored in a
bottle.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
B. Extraction Process

Extracting the lemongrass oil will be done through Steam Distillation

Process as most of the essential oils are extracted using this method.
Steam Distillation Process is a technique used for separating substances
which are immiscible with water, volatile in steam and having high vapor
pressure at the boiling temperature of water. This process can be used for
purifying liquids with very high boiling points which separates organic
compounds from plant parts. (E.g. Lemongrass oil, Eucalyptus oil, etc.)
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The researchers intend to use improvised apparatus such as a strainer, a
curve pot cover, and a stainless or steel glass receiving vessel that is
shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Improvised set up of Steam Distillation Process with labeled parts.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Below illustrate the procedures of the extraction:

• The first thing to do is to set the pot filled with purified water on the heat source.
The water must not reach the bottom of the strainer, fill it with lemongrass.

• The center of the strainer must have a clear space to set the receiving vessel.

• Position the pot cover inside – out on top of the strainer and make sure that the
tip is centered over the receiving vessel.

• The pot must be filled with ice as much as it can hold.

• Boil it up and gather the necessary amount of lemongrass extract from the
receiving vessel.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
C. Making the Insect Repellent

In making the lemongrass insect repellent mixture, the following are

the materials needed:

• 10ml of lemongrass essential oil

• 10ml of water

• 10ml of alcohol
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Below shows the procedure on making insect repellent out of lemongrass
oil:

• Mix the essential oil, water and alcohol.

• Pour the mixture in a spray bottle.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Data Treatment. After the experiment, the data obtained will be
tabulated and analyzed according to the product’s long-lastingness
repellency, affordability and safety.
REFERENCES
Gumban, J. (2013, August 27). The effectiveness of lemongrass as natural insect
repellent. Retrieved December 9, 2019, from
https://www.slideshare.net/gumbanjohndaniel/the-effectiveness-of-lemon-grass-as-
natural-insect-repellent

Fernandez, R. (2013, June 14). Dengue Prevention: How to Make your own Insect
Repellent. GMA News. Retrieved December 9, 2019, from
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/newstv/goodnews/312894/dengue-prevention-
how-to-make-your-own-insect-repellent/story

Rocky Mountain Soap. (2016, June 24). Benefits of Lemongrass oil. Retrieved
December 29, 2019, from https://www.rockymountainsoap.com/blogs/blog/benefits-
of-lemongrass-essential-oil
REFERENCES
Johnson, D. (2019, November 4). Insecticidal Properties of Lemongrass. Retrieved
January 3, 2020, from https://homeguides.sfgate.com/insecticidal-properties-lemon-
grass-55229.html

Catapang, A., Garcia, L. & Villongco, A. (2015, February 3). Lemongrass as an

Alternative Insect Repellent. Quezon, City. Retrieved December 9, 2019, from
http://lemongrassoilip.blogspot.com/2015/02/lemongrass-oil-as-alternative-
insect.html?m=1

Aegis Pest Services. (2018, December 19). All About Lemongrass. Retrieved January 3,
2020, from https://www.aegispestservices.com/post/is-lemongrass-effective-against-
mosquitoes
REFERENCES
SlideShare. (2013, August 27). The Effectiveness of Lemongrass as Natural Insect
Repellent. Retrieved January 5, 2020, from
https://www.slideshare.net/gumbanjohndaniel/the-effectiveness-of-lemon-grass-
as-natural-insect-repellent