Jambi – The pharmaceutical study lecturer of the faculty of medicine and health sciences (FKIK) at the University of Jambi (Unja), Uce Lestari, has managed to make an innovation in fighting off mosquitos by using male palm flowers, which are wastes in oil palm plantations, to produce mosquito repellent spray.

“With a large acreage of oil palm plantations, wastes are always there available. Therefore, I conducted a research on how to make the palm wastes having economic values,” Uce Lestari said in Jambi on Monday.

She said that the male palm flowers cannot fully develop into fruits, so that they will finally fall and are wasted. The male flowers have a high content of estragole compound, which has distinctive and pungent aroma that can be used as organic insecticide to kill mosquitos and insects (repellent).

“Currently, there is no repellent spray of liquid ethanol extract from male palm flowers on sale in the market,” she said.

She admitted that she found a formula of the repellent spray of the liquid ethanol extract from the male palm flowers has good physical properties, stable in storage, effective as organic mosquito repellent and safe to use.

In her research, she made three formulas of repellent spray, with each formula containing the male palm flowers’ liquid ethanol extract in concentrations of 5, 10, and 15 percent.

“After conducting an evaluation of physical properties and protection test against mosquitos, the liquid ethanol extract of the male palm flowers is proven as repellent spray against mosquitos. The application of third formula with 15 percent concentration found that only one of 25 mosquitos that perched, compared to the applications of other two formulas,” she said, adding that it has shown that the third formula is the most effective one as mosquito repellent.

“My research is only a prototype. Looking forward, we would like to make its brand and legality, which can be then used by the public,” she said.

According to her, the research is a follow-up to the research conducted in Tanjung Johor sub-district of Pelayangan district in Jambi mayoralty on the use of empty palm fruit bunches, another waste from the oil palm plantations, which have been also used for a number of purposes.

She noted that her research was part of her dedication program as a lecturer of the university, which is located in Jambi province. “We as lecturers are required to conduct researches, at least twice a year,” she added. (*)

Source: ANTARA