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Research ArticlePotential of Eucalyptus Oil as Repellent againstHouse Rat Rattus rattus
Neena Singla1 Ramandeep Kaur Thind1 and Amrit Kaur Mahal2
1 Department of Zoology Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana 141004 India2Department of Mathematics Statistics and Physics Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana 141004 India
Correspondence should be addressed to Neena Singla neenasingla1gmailcom
Received 18 August 2013 Accepted 27 October 2013 Published 12 January 2014
Academic Editors E Mushinzimana and M A Todaro
Copyright copy 2014 Neena Singla et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited
Rodent repellents are chemicals which by taste or odour or possibly by both will prevent animal from feeding or gnawing Suchsubstances may be used in protecting an area from rodent infestation or in protecting packaged food packing materials electriccables and other important vulnerable materials Mature and healthy house rat Rattus rattus of both sexes was exposed to 510 and 20 eucalyptus oil applied as spray in laboratory pens in bichoice tests Each concentration was applied through threedifferent modes of application that is daily once and alternatively in a week Repellent effect of the oil was assessed based on foodconsumption from treated and untreated sides for four days In overall food consumption was significantly (119875 lt 00001) low fromtreatment side compared to the untreated side indicating significant repellent effect of the oil at all the three concentrations testedRepellent effect of the oil was however not found to differ significantly between the two sexes Percent repellency in both male andfemale rats was apparently more with daily application of 5 and 10 eucalyptus oil Present studies reveal the potential of eucalyptusoil in repelling away R rattus however further studies may be conducted to enhance the persistence of repellent effect for longerperiod of time
1 Introduction
Rodents have gained the reputation as one of the mostpersistent and ubiquitous vertebrate pests affecting humanpopulations They cause economic problems because of thedamage they inflict on agricultural systems [1 2] environ-mental problems due to the chemicals used for their control[3] social problems associated with their close proximity tohuman habitation [4] and health problems as carriers ofzoonoses [5ndash7] The house rat Rattus rattus Linnaeus 1758(Rodentia Muridae) is one of the most commonly encoun-tered and economically important commensal rodents Itnot only inflicts heavy damage to stored food but also havenuisance value being a disease carrier or vector It is purely anindoor pest [8 9] Conventional pesticides possess inherenttoxicities that endanger the health of the farm operators con-sumers and the environment Such negative effects of con-ventional pesticides on human health led to a resurgence ininterest in botanical pesticides because of their minimal costsand fewer ecological side effects Botanicals have advantages
over broad-spectrum conventional pesticides They affectonly target pest and closely related organisms are effectivein very small quantities decompose quickly and provide theresidue-free food and a safe environment to live Naturalproducts represent one of the most important alternativesto control pests and diseases that affect plants and animalswithout deleteriously affecting environmental safety [10ndash12]
Plants with strong smells act as repellents and can protectthe crops nearby [13ndash15] Singla and Parshad [16] studiedthe antifeeding effects of neem-based formulation against Rrattus Parshad et al [17] reported repellent effect of twofungicides againstR rattusKalandakanond-Thongsong et al[18] evaluated the efficacy of chilli wintergreen oil bergamotoil peppermint oil and geranium oil as repellents in thecircular open field against adult maleWistar rats Pine needleoil inhibits feeding in vertebrate species through sensorycues [19] Some botanicals also have antireproductive effectsagainst pests [20ndash22] while some have positive effects ongrowth [23]
Hindawi Publishing Corporatione Scientific World JournalVolume 2014 Article ID 249284 7 pageshttpdxdoiorg1011552014249284
2 The Scientific World Journal
Among the plant families with promising essential oilsused as repellents include Cymbopogon spp Ocimum sppThymus spp and Eucalyptus spp [24] Among essential oilseucalyptus oil in particular is more useful as it is easilyextractable commercially (industrial value) and possesses awide range of desirable properties worth exploiting for pestmanagement [25ndash27] The oil is a colourless liquid witha camphor-like odour and spicy cooling taste It possessesa wide spectrum of biological activity including antimi-crobial fungicidal insecticidalinsect repellent herbicidalacaricidal and nematicidal [28] The pesticidal activity ofeucalyptus oil has been due to the components such as 1 8-cineole p-cymene eucamalol limonene linalool 120572-pinene120574-terpinene 120572-terpineol alloocimene and aromadendrene[29 30] The use of eucalyptus oil as a natural pesticideis of immense significance in view of the environmentaland toxicological implications of the indiscriminate use ofsynthetic pesticides and overcomingreducing the problem ofincreasing pest resistance [28]
Rodent repellents are chemicals which by taste or odouror possibly by both will prevent animal from feeding orgnawing Such substances may be used in protecting anarea from rodent infestation or in protecting packagedfood packing materials electric cables and other importantvulnerable materials Relatively little work has been carriedout on plant-derived repellents compared to other aspects ofrodent control No study has yet been made on evaluatingthe potential of eucalyptus oil as repellent against rodentpests The present study was hence carried out to evaluatethe potential of eucalyptus oil as repellent against R rattusa predominant rodent pest species
2 Material and Methods
The present work was carried out in Animal House Labora-tory Department of Zoology Punjab Agricultural UniversityLudhiana India located at an intersection of 30∘551015840Nparallelof latitude and 75∘541015840E line of longitude Commerciallyavailable pure eucalyptus oil was used for the present study
21 Collection and Maintenance of Animals For presentstudies R rattus of both sexes were trapped with the help ofsingle catch and multicatch rat traps from store houses andpoultry farms in and around Ludhiana In the laboratory ratswere acclimatized individually in cages of size 36times23times23 cmeach for 15ndash20 days before the commencement of experimentFood and water were provided ad libitum Food consisted ofa mixture of cracked wheat powdered sugar and groundnutoil (WSO) in ratio 96 2 2 The metallic trays were keptunder each cage for the collection and disposal of urineand faeces Animals were used and maintained as per theguidelines of Institutional Animal Ethics Committee Afteracclimatization healthy and mature rats of both sexes wereweighed and selected for experimentation
22 Experimental Setup A total of four laboratory pens (eachof size 252times100times72 cm) were used for each experiment Eachlaboratory pen consisted of three chambers of equal size
One rat was released in each chamber Each chamber in alaboratory pen on its opposite facing sides was connectedto two small nest boxes (each of size 20times15times15 cm) by meansof holes (each of diameter 6 cm) Each rat had free access tothe two nest boxes attached on opposite sides of a chamberTreatment was carried out in the nest box of one side of achamberOilwas sprayed on all the inner sides of the nest box
23 Treatment Three different concentrations of eucalyptusoil that is 5 10 and 20 were tested Different concentra-tions of the oil were prepared by in isopropyl alcohol Eachconcentration was tested on a total of twelve rats (six ofeach sex) by applying as spray (using a small spray pump of100mL capacity) Rats were exposed to each concentrationof the oil through three different modes of application thatis applied daily (from Monday to Thursday) applied oncea week (on Monday only) and applied alternatively (onMonday Tuesday and Thursday) Weighed (20 g) amount offood that isWSO taken in a bowl was placed in both the nestboxes of each chamber
24 Repellent Effect Repellent effect of the oil was assessedbased on the consumption of food by the rat from the foodbowls kept in two nest boxes of a chamber in a laboratorypen Food consumption was recorded daily after every 24 hfrom both treated and untreated sides for 4 days in a weekthat is from Tuesday to Friday to determine mean dailyfood consumption (g100 g body weight (bw)) Based onmean daily food consumption data percent repellency wasdetermined using the formula given below
percent repellency = FUT minus FTFUT
times 100 (1)
where FUT is the mean daily food consumption fromuntreated side and FT is the mean daily food consumptionfrom treated side
25 Statistical Analyses Values were determined as meanplusmn SD The data on food consumption for two sexes threeconcentrations of the oil three modes of applications fourdays of application and from treatment and untreated sideswas collected using factorial experiments in completelyrandomized design Analysis was done using general linearmodel (GLM) in SAS 93 All pairwise treatment comparisonswere made using Tukeysrsquo HSD test at 5 level of significance
3 Results
Statistical analysis of the data revealed in overall significantly(119875 lt 00001) low consumption of food from treatment sidecompared to untreated side at all three concentrations andmodes of application (Tables 1ndash3) indicating repellency ofeucalyptus oil when applied as spray Significant differencein food consumption from treatment side was observedamong all three concentrations tested (119875 = 00186) Nosignificant difference in average percent repellency of all thethree concentrations of the oil was observed between maleand female rats at all the threemodes of application (Figure 1)
The Scientific World Journal 3
Table 1 Mean daily food consumption by Rattus rattus in response to 5 eucalyptus oil applied as spray
Mode ofapplication Days of application
Mean daily food consumption (g100 g bw)Female rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 12166 plusmn 1771 g) Male rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 15500 plusmn 2291 g)Treatment side Untreated side Treatment side Untreated side
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A B or C) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (AndashC) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
Table 2 Mean daily food consumption by Rattus rattus in response to 10 eucalyptus oil applied as spray
Mode ofapplication Days of application
Mean daily food consumption (g100 g bw)Female rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 15666 plusmn 2494 g) Male rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 14333 plusmn 2285 g)Treatment side Untreated side Treatment side Untreated side
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A or B) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (A-B) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
4 The Scientific World Journal
Table 3 Mean daily food consumption by Rattus rattus in response to 20 eucalyptus oil applied as spray
Mode ofapplication Days of application
Mean daily food consumption (g100 g bw)Female rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 12833 plusmn 1067 g) Male rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 15166 plusmn 2034 g)Treatment side Untreated side Treatment side Untreated side
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A or B) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (A-B) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
5 10 20
Repe
llenc
y (
)
FemaleMale
A A
AA A
A
A A AA
A
A
A AA
A AA
Figure 1 No significant difference in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus between male and female rats at threedifferent concentrations with three different modes of applicationeach Bars with similar superscripts differ nonsignificantly
31 Effect of 5 Eucalyptus Oil The average mean dailyconsumption of food by female rats was significantly (119875 le005) low from treatment side when 5 oil was applied dailyand alternatively (Table 1) however when the oil was appliedonce a week the average mean daily food consumptionby female rats was found to be nonsignificantly low fromtreatment indicating low repellency of the oil at this modeof applicationThis may be due to the dissipation of repellenteffect of the oil which was applied only on day 1 of the week
The average mean daily food consumption in male rats wassignificantly low from treatment side at all the three modesof application (Table 1)
Average percent repellencywith 5 eucalyptus oil appliedas spray was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) highwhen the oil was applied daily (mode I) in both male andfemale rats (Table 4) The difference in average percentrepellency between the modes II and III was not found todiffer significantly in both the sexes (Figure 2)
32 Effect of 10 Eucalyptus Oil When 10 eucalyptus oilwas applied as spray the average mean daily consumptionof food was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low fromtreatment side when the oil was applied daily in male ratswhereas in female rats the consumption was found to besignificantly low when applied daily as well as when appliedonce a week (Table 2) The average consumption of four dayswas nonsignificantly low in females when the oil was appliedalternatively and in males when the oil was applied once aweek and alternatively In both male and female rats theaverage consumption of treatment food was not found todiffer significantly among the three modes of application
In female rats significant difference in average percentrepellencywith 10 eucalyptus oil was found among the threemodes of application (Figure 2) It was high when the oilwas applied daily followed by when applied once a week andalternatively (Table 4) In male rats a significant differencein average percent repellency was found between modes Iand II however similar differences between modes I and
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table 4 Percent repellency with eucalyptus oil applied as spray using three different concentrations against Rattus rattus
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in the column for four days (a or b) and for average values (A B or C) at each mode of application indicate no significantdifference in percent repellencyValues with different superscripts in a row for four days (a-b) and for average values (AndashC) at eachmode of application indicate significant difference in percentrepellency between the two sexes at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
5 10 20 5 10 20
Female Male
Repe
llenc
y (
)
DailyOnceAlternatively
B
A
CA
A A
A
BB
AB
ABB B A A
A
A
Figure 2 Significant differences in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus among three different modes ofapplication at three different concentrations in bothmale and femalerats Bars with differ superscripts different significantly at 119875 le 005
III and between modes II and III were found to be non-significant (Figure 2) Percent repellency was high when theoil was applied daily followed by when applied alternativelyand once aweek (Table 4)No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed among the four days of treatment atall three modes of application in female rats
However in male rats percent repellency on day 3 oftreatment was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low from
that observed on day 1 of treatment when the oil was appliedalternatively The same was significantly low on days 3 and 4from that observed on day 1 when the oil was applied oncea week (Table 4) This may again be due to dissipation ofrepellent effect of the oil applied on day 2 in mode III andon day 1 in mode II of application respectively
33 Effect of 20EucalyptusOil Theaveragemeandaily foodconsumption was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) lowfrom treatment side compared to untreated side in female ratswhen 20 eucalyptus oil was applied daily and once a week(Table 3) Similar difference in female rats was found to benon-significantwhen the oil was applied alternatively Inmalerats the average mean daily food consumption was found tobe significantly (119875 le 005) low from treatment side comparedto untreated side when the oil was applied daily The similardifferences in male rats were non-significant when the oilwas applied once a week and alternatively (Table 3) Theaverage mean daily food consumption of treatment foodamong the three modes of application was found to differnonsignificantly in both the sexes
The average percent repellency was not found to differsignificantly among the three modes of application in bothmale and female rats (Figure 2) In female rats when 20eucalyptus oil was applied daily and alternatively differencein percent repellency among the four days of treatment wasnot found to be significant however when the oil was appliedonce a week percent repellency was significantly less on day
6 The Scientific World Journal
3 compared to day 1 and also on day 4 compared to days 1 and2 (Table 4)
In male rats no significant difference in percent repel-lencywas observed among four days of application at all threemodes of application No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed between male and female rats whenoil was applied daily and alternatively Significant (119875 le 005)difference was however observed on day 4 when oil wasapplied once a week with higher repellency in case of malerats (4967) from that observed in female rats (2050)Theaverage percent repellency at all themodes of application wasnot found to differ significantly between the rats of two sexes(Table 4)
4 Discussion
During the present studies significant differences werefound in mean daily food consumption from treatment anduntreated sides at different modes of application and atdifferent concentrations of the oil between male and femalerats This may be due to the sex specific variation in responseto R rattus towards the oil Similar sex specific differencesin response to R rattus of two sexes towards toxic baitswere reported by Kaur et al [31] During the present studieshigher standard deviation values than mean values of foodconsumption were observed in some cases which may be dueto individual variation in response shown by rats of differentspecies [32]
In overall no significant difference in repellent effects ofoil applied as spray was found between the two sexes andamong the three concentrations of the oil tested during thepresent studies All the three concentrations were equallyeffective and the repellency was highest when the oil wasapplied daily The cost of spraying 5 eucalyptus oil (theminimum effective concentration) per 1m2 area comes outto be Indian Rs 10 (US $ 017) which can be consideredcost effective if we keep in view the extent of loss causedby R rattus through damage and contamination of foodAmong the various components of eucalyptus oil 1 8-cineole is the most important one largely responsible for avariety of its pesticidal properties [29] The presence of thisessential oil also provides defense advantage to eucalyptusleaves against herbivory and attack by harmful insects [33]The present study is the first of its kind evaluating repellentpotential of eucalyptus oil against vertebrate pests Previousto this repellency of eucalyptus oil has been recorded againstthe tick Ixodes ricinus [34] and against acaricide-resistantmites [35] Application of 10 concentration of 1 8 cineolereduced oviposition rate of Thrips tabaci by 30ndash50 ascompared to untreated controls [36] Eucalyptus oil (1)added to sugar syrup repelled honey bees [37] Eucalyptusoil (2) on filter paper and wood floor repelled termites [38]Eucalyptus oil can also protect plants against rice weevilspine processionarymoths andmushroomflies [28] Essentialoils of eucalyptus appear particularly potent as mosquitorepellents [39]
Since eucalyptus oil possesses a wide spectrum of bio-logical activity and is regarded as safer compounds there
have been attempts to commercialize and market the insecti-cidesrepellent products containing eucalyptus oil as such orbased upon them Quwenling is a eucalyptus-based productthat has been successfully marketed as an insect-repellentin China [40] It provides protection against Anophelesmosquitoes parallel to DEET and has in fact replaced thewidely used synthetic repellent dimethyl phthalate
5 Conclusion
The present studies reveal the potential of eucalyptus oilapplied as spray in repelling away R rattus of both sexesPercent repellency was more when the oil was applied dailyand alternatively as compared to when applied once a weekindicating low persistence of the repellent effect due tovolatile nature of the oil Further studies may be conductedto prepare formulations of the oil leading to slow release ofthe oil so as to increase its persistence for a longer period oftime
Conflict of Interests
No contributing author has a conflict of interests in thepublication of this study
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch NewDelhi India for providing financial assistanceand Professor and Head of the Department of ZoologyPunjab Agricultural University Ludhiana India for thefacilities provided
References
[1] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoRodent damage and infestation inwheat and rice crop field district wise analysis in Punjab StaterdquoIndian Journal of Ecology vol 37 no 2 pp 184ndash188 2010
[2] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoCritical timings of rodenticide baitapplication for controlling rodents in sugarcane crop grown insituations like Punjab Indiardquo Sugar Tech vol 14 no 1 pp 76ndash82 2012
[3] G R Singleton and T D Redhead ldquoHousemouse plaguesinrdquo inMediterranean Landscapes in AustraliamdashMallee Ecosystems andTheir Management J C Noble and R A Bradstock Eds pp418ndash433 CSIRO Melbourne Australia 1989
[4] R Beckmann ldquoMice on the farmrdquo Rural Research vol 138 pp23ndash27 1988
[5] L D Singla N Singla V R Parshad P D Juyal and K SoodldquoRodents as reservoir of parasites in Indiardquo Integrative Zoologyvol 3 no 1 pp 21ndash26 2008
[6] N Singla L D Singla K Gupta and N K Sood ldquoPathologicalalterations in natural cases ofCapillaria hepatica infection aloneand in concurrence with Cysticercus fasciolaris in Bandicotabengalensisrdquo Journal of Parasitic Diseases vol 17 no 1 pp 16ndash202012
[7] V Herbreteau F Bordes S Jittapalapong Y Supputamongkoland S Morand ldquoRodent-borne diseases in Thailand targetingrodent carriers and risky habitatsrdquo Infectious Ecology andEpidemiololgy vol 2 Article ID 18637 2012
The Scientific World Journal 7
[8] T J RobertsTheMammals of Pakistan Earnest Benn LondonUK 1977
[9] J E Brooks E Ahmed and I Hussain ldquoRat population andstored food losses at a Pakistan grain marketrdquo Tech Rep 12National Agriculture Research Centre Islamabad Pakistan1987
[10] M B Isman ldquoNeem and other botanical insecticides barriers tocommercializationrdquo Phytoparasitica vol 25 no 4 pp 339ndash3441997
[11] J Men and F Hall ldquoBiopesticides present status and futureprospectsrdquo in Methods in Biotechnology Biopesticides Use andDelivery F Hall and J Menn Eds vol 5 pp 1ndash10 HumanaPress Totowa NJ USA 1999
[12] P Tripathi N K Dubey and A K Shukla ldquoUse of some essen-tial oils as post-harvest botanical fungicides in themanagementof grey mould of grapes caused by Botrytis cinereardquo WorldJournal of Microbiology and Biotechnology vol 24 no 1 pp 39ndash46 2008
[13] R Firouzi M Azadbakht and A Nabinedjad ldquoAnti-listerialactivity of essential oils of some plantsrdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 14 no 1 pp 75ndash80 1998
[14] H F Khater ldquoEcosmart biorational insecticides alternativeinsect control strategiesrdquo inAdvances in Integrated PestManage-ment F Perveen Ed pp 17ndash60 InTech Rijeka Croatia 2011
[15] N K Dubey R Shukla A Kumar P Singh and B PrakashldquoGlobal scenario on the application of natural products inintegrated pest management programmesrdquo in Natural Productsin Plant Pest Management N K Dubey Ed vol 1 pp 1ndash20CAB International 2011
[16] N Singla and V R Parshad ldquoAntifeeding effects of a neem(Azadirachta indica)-based formulation botanical bird repellentagainst the house rat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Indian Journal of Agricul-tural Sciences vol 77 no 8 pp 502ndash504 2007
[17] V R Parshad M S Saini and S Jindal ldquoRepellent action oftwo fungicides against the house ratRattus rattus and the Indianmole rat Bandicota bengalensisrdquo International Biodeteriorationamp Biodegradation vol 31 no 1 pp 77ndash82 1993
[18] S Kalandakanond-Thongsong S Daendee B Thongsong andV Chavananikul ldquoThe efficacy of pure natural repellents on ratresponses using circular open fieldrdquo Thai Journal of VeterinaryMedicine vol 40 no 4 pp 411ndash418 2010
[19] S S Wager-Page J R Mason E Aronov and G Epple ldquoTherole of sensory cues and feeding context in the mediation ofpine needle oils repellency in prairie volesrdquo in Proceedings ofthe National Wildlife Research Center Repellents ConferenceDenver Colo USA 1995 paper 38
[20] F Dehghani M R Panjehshahin Z Mirzaee and D Mehra-bani ldquoEffect of Foeniculum vulgare organic extract on bloodsex hormones and reproductive tissues of male ratsrdquo Journal ofApplied Animal Research vol 27 no 1 pp 17ndash20 2005
[21] W Deng G Y Wang and S D Zhao ldquoAntifertility effectsof crude ethanol extracts of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Levl)Hutch in male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)rdquoJournal of Applied Animal Research vol 39 no 1 pp 44ndash482011
[22] N Singla and M Garg ldquoEffect of crude cottonseed oil contain-ing gossypol on fertility of male and estrous cycle of femaleBandicota bengalensis Gray and Hardwickerdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 41 no 2 pp 156ndash165 2013
[23] B Djakalia B L Guichard and A E Fernande ldquoEffect of palmoil and soya bean oil on growth performance and health of
rabbit before and after weaningrdquo Journal of Applied AnimalResearch vol 40 no 1 pp 56ndash60 2012
[24] O Koul S Walia and G S Dhaliwal ldquoEssential oils as greenpesticides potential and constraintsrdquo Biopesticide Internationalvol 4 no 1 pp 63ndash84 2008
[25] D J Boland J J Brophy and A P N House Eds EucalyPtusLeaf Oils Use Chemistry Distillation and Marketing InkataPress Sydney Australia 1991
[26] FAO ldquoEucalyptus oilrdquo in Flavour and Fragrances of Plant Originchapter 5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations Rome Italy 1995
[27] A F M Barton ldquoThe oil mallee project a multifaceted indus-trial ecology case studyrdquo Journal of Industrial Ecology vol 3 no2-3 pp 161ndash176 2000
[28] D R Batish H P Singh R K Kohli and S Kaur ldquoEucalyptusessential oil as a natural pesticiderdquo Forest Ecology and Manage-ment vol 256 no 12 pp 2166ndash2174 2008
[29] J A Duke ldquoDr Dukersquos phytochemical and ethnobotanicaldatabasesrdquo 2004 httpwwwars-gringovduke
[30] X Liu Q Chen Z Wang L Xie and Z Xu ldquoAllelopathiceffects of essential oil from Eucalyptus grandis times E urophyllaon pathogenic fungi and pest insectsrdquo Frontiers of Forestry inChina vol 3 no 2 pp 232ndash236 2008
[31] G Kaur D K Kocher H S Sandhu and R S Brar ldquoSex specificvalue of oral LD
50
of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3
) against houserat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Toxicology International vol 15 no 2 pp143ndash144 2008
[32] D Ghosh R Kumar and K Pal ldquoIndividual variation inresponse to simulated hypotoxic stress of ratsrdquo Indian Journalof Experimental Biology vol 50 pp 744ndash748 2012
[33] M I H Brooker and D A Kleinig Field Guide to Eucalyptusvol 1 Bloomings Melbourne Australia 3rd edition 2006
[34] T G T Jaenson S Garboui and K Palsson ldquoRepellency of oilsof lemon eucalyptus geranium and lavender and the mosquitorepellent MyggA natural to Ixodes ricinus (Acari Ixodidae) inthe laboratory and fieldrdquo Journal of Medical Entomology vol 43no 4 pp 731ndash736 2006
[35] JHan S-I Kim B-R Choi S-G Lee andY-J Ahn ldquoFumiganttoxicity of lemon eucalyptus oil constituents to acaricide-susceptible and acaricide-resistant Tetranychus urticaerdquo PestManagement Science vol 67 no 12 pp 1583ndash1588 2011
[36] E H Koschier and K A Sedy ldquoEffects of plant volatiles onthe feeding and oviposition of Thrips tabacirdquo in Thrips andTospoviruses pp 185ndash187 CSIRO Collingwood Australia 2001
[37] S K Patyal and J Kumar ldquoOlfacto-gustatory repellency of someessential oils to the Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica FabrrdquoJournal of Indian Bee vol 51 pp 5ndash8 1989
[38] T S Lin ldquoEffects of essential oil from the leaves of sevenEucalyptus on the control of termiterdquo Forest Products Industriesvol 17 pp 751ndash760 1998
[39] W-S Choi B-S Park S-K Ku and S-E Lee ldquoRepellentactivities of essential oils and monoterpenes against Culexpipiens pallensrdquo Journal of the American Mosquito ControlAssociation vol 18 no 4 pp 348ndash351 2002
[40] J K Trigg ldquoEvaluation of a eucalyptus-based repellent againstAnopheles spp in Tanzaniardquo Journal of the American MosquitoControl Association vol 12 no 2 pp 243ndash246 1996
Among the plant families with promising essential oilsused as repellents include Cymbopogon spp Ocimum sppThymus spp and Eucalyptus spp [24] Among essential oilseucalyptus oil in particular is more useful as it is easilyextractable commercially (industrial value) and possesses awide range of desirable properties worth exploiting for pestmanagement [25ndash27] The oil is a colourless liquid witha camphor-like odour and spicy cooling taste It possessesa wide spectrum of biological activity including antimi-crobial fungicidal insecticidalinsect repellent herbicidalacaricidal and nematicidal [28] The pesticidal activity ofeucalyptus oil has been due to the components such as 1 8-cineole p-cymene eucamalol limonene linalool 120572-pinene120574-terpinene 120572-terpineol alloocimene and aromadendrene[29 30] The use of eucalyptus oil as a natural pesticideis of immense significance in view of the environmentaland toxicological implications of the indiscriminate use ofsynthetic pesticides and overcomingreducing the problem ofincreasing pest resistance [28]
Rodent repellents are chemicals which by taste or odouror possibly by both will prevent animal from feeding orgnawing Such substances may be used in protecting anarea from rodent infestation or in protecting packagedfood packing materials electric cables and other importantvulnerable materials Relatively little work has been carriedout on plant-derived repellents compared to other aspects ofrodent control No study has yet been made on evaluatingthe potential of eucalyptus oil as repellent against rodentpests The present study was hence carried out to evaluatethe potential of eucalyptus oil as repellent against R rattusa predominant rodent pest species
2 Material and Methods
The present work was carried out in Animal House Labora-tory Department of Zoology Punjab Agricultural UniversityLudhiana India located at an intersection of 30∘551015840Nparallelof latitude and 75∘541015840E line of longitude Commerciallyavailable pure eucalyptus oil was used for the present study
21 Collection and Maintenance of Animals For presentstudies R rattus of both sexes were trapped with the help ofsingle catch and multicatch rat traps from store houses andpoultry farms in and around Ludhiana In the laboratory ratswere acclimatized individually in cages of size 36times23times23 cmeach for 15ndash20 days before the commencement of experimentFood and water were provided ad libitum Food consisted ofa mixture of cracked wheat powdered sugar and groundnutoil (WSO) in ratio 96 2 2 The metallic trays were keptunder each cage for the collection and disposal of urineand faeces Animals were used and maintained as per theguidelines of Institutional Animal Ethics Committee Afteracclimatization healthy and mature rats of both sexes wereweighed and selected for experimentation
22 Experimental Setup A total of four laboratory pens (eachof size 252times100times72 cm) were used for each experiment Eachlaboratory pen consisted of three chambers of equal size
One rat was released in each chamber Each chamber in alaboratory pen on its opposite facing sides was connectedto two small nest boxes (each of size 20times15times15 cm) by meansof holes (each of diameter 6 cm) Each rat had free access tothe two nest boxes attached on opposite sides of a chamberTreatment was carried out in the nest box of one side of achamberOilwas sprayed on all the inner sides of the nest box
23 Treatment Three different concentrations of eucalyptusoil that is 5 10 and 20 were tested Different concentra-tions of the oil were prepared by in isopropyl alcohol Eachconcentration was tested on a total of twelve rats (six ofeach sex) by applying as spray (using a small spray pump of100mL capacity) Rats were exposed to each concentrationof the oil through three different modes of application thatis applied daily (from Monday to Thursday) applied oncea week (on Monday only) and applied alternatively (onMonday Tuesday and Thursday) Weighed (20 g) amount offood that isWSO taken in a bowl was placed in both the nestboxes of each chamber
24 Repellent Effect Repellent effect of the oil was assessedbased on the consumption of food by the rat from the foodbowls kept in two nest boxes of a chamber in a laboratorypen Food consumption was recorded daily after every 24 hfrom both treated and untreated sides for 4 days in a weekthat is from Tuesday to Friday to determine mean dailyfood consumption (g100 g body weight (bw)) Based onmean daily food consumption data percent repellency wasdetermined using the formula given below
percent repellency = FUT minus FTFUT
times 100 (1)
where FUT is the mean daily food consumption fromuntreated side and FT is the mean daily food consumptionfrom treated side
25 Statistical Analyses Values were determined as meanplusmn SD The data on food consumption for two sexes threeconcentrations of the oil three modes of applications fourdays of application and from treatment and untreated sideswas collected using factorial experiments in completelyrandomized design Analysis was done using general linearmodel (GLM) in SAS 93 All pairwise treatment comparisonswere made using Tukeysrsquo HSD test at 5 level of significance
3 Results
Statistical analysis of the data revealed in overall significantly(119875 lt 00001) low consumption of food from treatment sidecompared to untreated side at all three concentrations andmodes of application (Tables 1ndash3) indicating repellency ofeucalyptus oil when applied as spray Significant differencein food consumption from treatment side was observedamong all three concentrations tested (119875 = 00186) Nosignificant difference in average percent repellency of all thethree concentrations of the oil was observed between maleand female rats at all the threemodes of application (Figure 1)
The Scientific World Journal 3
Table 1 Mean daily food consumption by Rattus rattus in response to 5 eucalyptus oil applied as spray
Mode ofapplication Days of application
Mean daily food consumption (g100 g bw)Female rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 12166 plusmn 1771 g) Male rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 15500 plusmn 2291 g)Treatment side Untreated side Treatment side Untreated side
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A B or C) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (AndashC) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
Table 2 Mean daily food consumption by Rattus rattus in response to 10 eucalyptus oil applied as spray
Mode ofapplication Days of application
Mean daily food consumption (g100 g bw)Female rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 15666 plusmn 2494 g) Male rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 14333 plusmn 2285 g)Treatment side Untreated side Treatment side Untreated side
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A or B) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (A-B) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
4 The Scientific World Journal
Table 3 Mean daily food consumption by Rattus rattus in response to 20 eucalyptus oil applied as spray
Mode ofapplication Days of application
Mean daily food consumption (g100 g bw)Female rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 12833 plusmn 1067 g) Male rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 15166 plusmn 2034 g)Treatment side Untreated side Treatment side Untreated side
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A or B) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (A-B) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
5 10 20
Repe
llenc
y (
)
FemaleMale
A A
AA A
A
A A AA
A
A
A AA
A AA
Figure 1 No significant difference in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus between male and female rats at threedifferent concentrations with three different modes of applicationeach Bars with similar superscripts differ nonsignificantly
31 Effect of 5 Eucalyptus Oil The average mean dailyconsumption of food by female rats was significantly (119875 le005) low from treatment side when 5 oil was applied dailyand alternatively (Table 1) however when the oil was appliedonce a week the average mean daily food consumptionby female rats was found to be nonsignificantly low fromtreatment indicating low repellency of the oil at this modeof applicationThis may be due to the dissipation of repellenteffect of the oil which was applied only on day 1 of the week
The average mean daily food consumption in male rats wassignificantly low from treatment side at all the three modesof application (Table 1)
Average percent repellencywith 5 eucalyptus oil appliedas spray was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) highwhen the oil was applied daily (mode I) in both male andfemale rats (Table 4) The difference in average percentrepellency between the modes II and III was not found todiffer significantly in both the sexes (Figure 2)
32 Effect of 10 Eucalyptus Oil When 10 eucalyptus oilwas applied as spray the average mean daily consumptionof food was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low fromtreatment side when the oil was applied daily in male ratswhereas in female rats the consumption was found to besignificantly low when applied daily as well as when appliedonce a week (Table 2) The average consumption of four dayswas nonsignificantly low in females when the oil was appliedalternatively and in males when the oil was applied once aweek and alternatively In both male and female rats theaverage consumption of treatment food was not found todiffer significantly among the three modes of application
In female rats significant difference in average percentrepellencywith 10 eucalyptus oil was found among the threemodes of application (Figure 2) It was high when the oilwas applied daily followed by when applied once a week andalternatively (Table 4) In male rats a significant differencein average percent repellency was found between modes Iand II however similar differences between modes I and
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table 4 Percent repellency with eucalyptus oil applied as spray using three different concentrations against Rattus rattus
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in the column for four days (a or b) and for average values (A B or C) at each mode of application indicate no significantdifference in percent repellencyValues with different superscripts in a row for four days (a-b) and for average values (AndashC) at eachmode of application indicate significant difference in percentrepellency between the two sexes at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
5 10 20 5 10 20
Female Male
Repe
llenc
y (
)
DailyOnceAlternatively
B
A
CA
A A
A
BB
AB
ABB B A A
A
A
Figure 2 Significant differences in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus among three different modes ofapplication at three different concentrations in bothmale and femalerats Bars with differ superscripts different significantly at 119875 le 005
III and between modes II and III were found to be non-significant (Figure 2) Percent repellency was high when theoil was applied daily followed by when applied alternativelyand once aweek (Table 4)No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed among the four days of treatment atall three modes of application in female rats
However in male rats percent repellency on day 3 oftreatment was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low from
that observed on day 1 of treatment when the oil was appliedalternatively The same was significantly low on days 3 and 4from that observed on day 1 when the oil was applied oncea week (Table 4) This may again be due to dissipation ofrepellent effect of the oil applied on day 2 in mode III andon day 1 in mode II of application respectively
33 Effect of 20EucalyptusOil Theaveragemeandaily foodconsumption was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) lowfrom treatment side compared to untreated side in female ratswhen 20 eucalyptus oil was applied daily and once a week(Table 3) Similar difference in female rats was found to benon-significantwhen the oil was applied alternatively Inmalerats the average mean daily food consumption was found tobe significantly (119875 le 005) low from treatment side comparedto untreated side when the oil was applied daily The similardifferences in male rats were non-significant when the oilwas applied once a week and alternatively (Table 3) Theaverage mean daily food consumption of treatment foodamong the three modes of application was found to differnonsignificantly in both the sexes
The average percent repellency was not found to differsignificantly among the three modes of application in bothmale and female rats (Figure 2) In female rats when 20eucalyptus oil was applied daily and alternatively differencein percent repellency among the four days of treatment wasnot found to be significant however when the oil was appliedonce a week percent repellency was significantly less on day
6 The Scientific World Journal
3 compared to day 1 and also on day 4 compared to days 1 and2 (Table 4)
In male rats no significant difference in percent repel-lencywas observed among four days of application at all threemodes of application No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed between male and female rats whenoil was applied daily and alternatively Significant (119875 le 005)difference was however observed on day 4 when oil wasapplied once a week with higher repellency in case of malerats (4967) from that observed in female rats (2050)Theaverage percent repellency at all themodes of application wasnot found to differ significantly between the rats of two sexes(Table 4)
4 Discussion
During the present studies significant differences werefound in mean daily food consumption from treatment anduntreated sides at different modes of application and atdifferent concentrations of the oil between male and femalerats This may be due to the sex specific variation in responseto R rattus towards the oil Similar sex specific differencesin response to R rattus of two sexes towards toxic baitswere reported by Kaur et al [31] During the present studieshigher standard deviation values than mean values of foodconsumption were observed in some cases which may be dueto individual variation in response shown by rats of differentspecies [32]
In overall no significant difference in repellent effects ofoil applied as spray was found between the two sexes andamong the three concentrations of the oil tested during thepresent studies All the three concentrations were equallyeffective and the repellency was highest when the oil wasapplied daily The cost of spraying 5 eucalyptus oil (theminimum effective concentration) per 1m2 area comes outto be Indian Rs 10 (US $ 017) which can be consideredcost effective if we keep in view the extent of loss causedby R rattus through damage and contamination of foodAmong the various components of eucalyptus oil 1 8-cineole is the most important one largely responsible for avariety of its pesticidal properties [29] The presence of thisessential oil also provides defense advantage to eucalyptusleaves against herbivory and attack by harmful insects [33]The present study is the first of its kind evaluating repellentpotential of eucalyptus oil against vertebrate pests Previousto this repellency of eucalyptus oil has been recorded againstthe tick Ixodes ricinus [34] and against acaricide-resistantmites [35] Application of 10 concentration of 1 8 cineolereduced oviposition rate of Thrips tabaci by 30ndash50 ascompared to untreated controls [36] Eucalyptus oil (1)added to sugar syrup repelled honey bees [37] Eucalyptusoil (2) on filter paper and wood floor repelled termites [38]Eucalyptus oil can also protect plants against rice weevilspine processionarymoths andmushroomflies [28] Essentialoils of eucalyptus appear particularly potent as mosquitorepellents [39]
Since eucalyptus oil possesses a wide spectrum of bio-logical activity and is regarded as safer compounds there
have been attempts to commercialize and market the insecti-cidesrepellent products containing eucalyptus oil as such orbased upon them Quwenling is a eucalyptus-based productthat has been successfully marketed as an insect-repellentin China [40] It provides protection against Anophelesmosquitoes parallel to DEET and has in fact replaced thewidely used synthetic repellent dimethyl phthalate
5 Conclusion
The present studies reveal the potential of eucalyptus oilapplied as spray in repelling away R rattus of both sexesPercent repellency was more when the oil was applied dailyand alternatively as compared to when applied once a weekindicating low persistence of the repellent effect due tovolatile nature of the oil Further studies may be conductedto prepare formulations of the oil leading to slow release ofthe oil so as to increase its persistence for a longer period oftime
Conflict of Interests
No contributing author has a conflict of interests in thepublication of this study
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch NewDelhi India for providing financial assistanceand Professor and Head of the Department of ZoologyPunjab Agricultural University Ludhiana India for thefacilities provided
References
[1] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoRodent damage and infestation inwheat and rice crop field district wise analysis in Punjab StaterdquoIndian Journal of Ecology vol 37 no 2 pp 184ndash188 2010
[2] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoCritical timings of rodenticide baitapplication for controlling rodents in sugarcane crop grown insituations like Punjab Indiardquo Sugar Tech vol 14 no 1 pp 76ndash82 2012
[3] G R Singleton and T D Redhead ldquoHousemouse plaguesinrdquo inMediterranean Landscapes in AustraliamdashMallee Ecosystems andTheir Management J C Noble and R A Bradstock Eds pp418ndash433 CSIRO Melbourne Australia 1989
[4] R Beckmann ldquoMice on the farmrdquo Rural Research vol 138 pp23ndash27 1988
[5] L D Singla N Singla V R Parshad P D Juyal and K SoodldquoRodents as reservoir of parasites in Indiardquo Integrative Zoologyvol 3 no 1 pp 21ndash26 2008
[6] N Singla L D Singla K Gupta and N K Sood ldquoPathologicalalterations in natural cases ofCapillaria hepatica infection aloneand in concurrence with Cysticercus fasciolaris in Bandicotabengalensisrdquo Journal of Parasitic Diseases vol 17 no 1 pp 16ndash202012
[7] V Herbreteau F Bordes S Jittapalapong Y Supputamongkoland S Morand ldquoRodent-borne diseases in Thailand targetingrodent carriers and risky habitatsrdquo Infectious Ecology andEpidemiololgy vol 2 Article ID 18637 2012
The Scientific World Journal 7
[8] T J RobertsTheMammals of Pakistan Earnest Benn LondonUK 1977
[9] J E Brooks E Ahmed and I Hussain ldquoRat population andstored food losses at a Pakistan grain marketrdquo Tech Rep 12National Agriculture Research Centre Islamabad Pakistan1987
[10] M B Isman ldquoNeem and other botanical insecticides barriers tocommercializationrdquo Phytoparasitica vol 25 no 4 pp 339ndash3441997
[11] J Men and F Hall ldquoBiopesticides present status and futureprospectsrdquo in Methods in Biotechnology Biopesticides Use andDelivery F Hall and J Menn Eds vol 5 pp 1ndash10 HumanaPress Totowa NJ USA 1999
[12] P Tripathi N K Dubey and A K Shukla ldquoUse of some essen-tial oils as post-harvest botanical fungicides in themanagementof grey mould of grapes caused by Botrytis cinereardquo WorldJournal of Microbiology and Biotechnology vol 24 no 1 pp 39ndash46 2008
[13] R Firouzi M Azadbakht and A Nabinedjad ldquoAnti-listerialactivity of essential oils of some plantsrdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 14 no 1 pp 75ndash80 1998
[14] H F Khater ldquoEcosmart biorational insecticides alternativeinsect control strategiesrdquo inAdvances in Integrated PestManage-ment F Perveen Ed pp 17ndash60 InTech Rijeka Croatia 2011
[15] N K Dubey R Shukla A Kumar P Singh and B PrakashldquoGlobal scenario on the application of natural products inintegrated pest management programmesrdquo in Natural Productsin Plant Pest Management N K Dubey Ed vol 1 pp 1ndash20CAB International 2011
[16] N Singla and V R Parshad ldquoAntifeeding effects of a neem(Azadirachta indica)-based formulation botanical bird repellentagainst the house rat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Indian Journal of Agricul-tural Sciences vol 77 no 8 pp 502ndash504 2007
[17] V R Parshad M S Saini and S Jindal ldquoRepellent action oftwo fungicides against the house ratRattus rattus and the Indianmole rat Bandicota bengalensisrdquo International Biodeteriorationamp Biodegradation vol 31 no 1 pp 77ndash82 1993
[18] S Kalandakanond-Thongsong S Daendee B Thongsong andV Chavananikul ldquoThe efficacy of pure natural repellents on ratresponses using circular open fieldrdquo Thai Journal of VeterinaryMedicine vol 40 no 4 pp 411ndash418 2010
[19] S S Wager-Page J R Mason E Aronov and G Epple ldquoTherole of sensory cues and feeding context in the mediation ofpine needle oils repellency in prairie volesrdquo in Proceedings ofthe National Wildlife Research Center Repellents ConferenceDenver Colo USA 1995 paper 38
[20] F Dehghani M R Panjehshahin Z Mirzaee and D Mehra-bani ldquoEffect of Foeniculum vulgare organic extract on bloodsex hormones and reproductive tissues of male ratsrdquo Journal ofApplied Animal Research vol 27 no 1 pp 17ndash20 2005
[21] W Deng G Y Wang and S D Zhao ldquoAntifertility effectsof crude ethanol extracts of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Levl)Hutch in male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)rdquoJournal of Applied Animal Research vol 39 no 1 pp 44ndash482011
[22] N Singla and M Garg ldquoEffect of crude cottonseed oil contain-ing gossypol on fertility of male and estrous cycle of femaleBandicota bengalensis Gray and Hardwickerdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 41 no 2 pp 156ndash165 2013
[23] B Djakalia B L Guichard and A E Fernande ldquoEffect of palmoil and soya bean oil on growth performance and health of
rabbit before and after weaningrdquo Journal of Applied AnimalResearch vol 40 no 1 pp 56ndash60 2012
[24] O Koul S Walia and G S Dhaliwal ldquoEssential oils as greenpesticides potential and constraintsrdquo Biopesticide Internationalvol 4 no 1 pp 63ndash84 2008
[25] D J Boland J J Brophy and A P N House Eds EucalyPtusLeaf Oils Use Chemistry Distillation and Marketing InkataPress Sydney Australia 1991
[26] FAO ldquoEucalyptus oilrdquo in Flavour and Fragrances of Plant Originchapter 5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations Rome Italy 1995
[27] A F M Barton ldquoThe oil mallee project a multifaceted indus-trial ecology case studyrdquo Journal of Industrial Ecology vol 3 no2-3 pp 161ndash176 2000
[28] D R Batish H P Singh R K Kohli and S Kaur ldquoEucalyptusessential oil as a natural pesticiderdquo Forest Ecology and Manage-ment vol 256 no 12 pp 2166ndash2174 2008
[29] J A Duke ldquoDr Dukersquos phytochemical and ethnobotanicaldatabasesrdquo 2004 httpwwwars-gringovduke
[30] X Liu Q Chen Z Wang L Xie and Z Xu ldquoAllelopathiceffects of essential oil from Eucalyptus grandis times E urophyllaon pathogenic fungi and pest insectsrdquo Frontiers of Forestry inChina vol 3 no 2 pp 232ndash236 2008
[31] G Kaur D K Kocher H S Sandhu and R S Brar ldquoSex specificvalue of oral LD
50
of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3
) against houserat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Toxicology International vol 15 no 2 pp143ndash144 2008
[32] D Ghosh R Kumar and K Pal ldquoIndividual variation inresponse to simulated hypotoxic stress of ratsrdquo Indian Journalof Experimental Biology vol 50 pp 744ndash748 2012
[33] M I H Brooker and D A Kleinig Field Guide to Eucalyptusvol 1 Bloomings Melbourne Australia 3rd edition 2006
[34] T G T Jaenson S Garboui and K Palsson ldquoRepellency of oilsof lemon eucalyptus geranium and lavender and the mosquitorepellent MyggA natural to Ixodes ricinus (Acari Ixodidae) inthe laboratory and fieldrdquo Journal of Medical Entomology vol 43no 4 pp 731ndash736 2006
[35] JHan S-I Kim B-R Choi S-G Lee andY-J Ahn ldquoFumiganttoxicity of lemon eucalyptus oil constituents to acaricide-susceptible and acaricide-resistant Tetranychus urticaerdquo PestManagement Science vol 67 no 12 pp 1583ndash1588 2011
[36] E H Koschier and K A Sedy ldquoEffects of plant volatiles onthe feeding and oviposition of Thrips tabacirdquo in Thrips andTospoviruses pp 185ndash187 CSIRO Collingwood Australia 2001
[37] S K Patyal and J Kumar ldquoOlfacto-gustatory repellency of someessential oils to the Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica FabrrdquoJournal of Indian Bee vol 51 pp 5ndash8 1989
[38] T S Lin ldquoEffects of essential oil from the leaves of sevenEucalyptus on the control of termiterdquo Forest Products Industriesvol 17 pp 751ndash760 1998
[39] W-S Choi B-S Park S-K Ku and S-E Lee ldquoRepellentactivities of essential oils and monoterpenes against Culexpipiens pallensrdquo Journal of the American Mosquito ControlAssociation vol 18 no 4 pp 348ndash351 2002
[40] J K Trigg ldquoEvaluation of a eucalyptus-based repellent againstAnopheles spp in Tanzaniardquo Journal of the American MosquitoControl Association vol 12 no 2 pp 243ndash246 1996
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A B or C) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (AndashC) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
Table 2 Mean daily food consumption by Rattus rattus in response to 10 eucalyptus oil applied as spray
Mode ofapplication Days of application
Mean daily food consumption (g100 g bw)Female rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 15666 plusmn 2494 g) Male rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 14333 plusmn 2285 g)Treatment side Untreated side Treatment side Untreated side
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A or B) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (A-B) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
4 The Scientific World Journal
Table 3 Mean daily food consumption by Rattus rattus in response to 20 eucalyptus oil applied as spray
Mode ofapplication Days of application
Mean daily food consumption (g100 g bw)Female rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 12833 plusmn 1067 g) Male rats (119899 = 6) (body wt = 15166 plusmn 2034 g)Treatment side Untreated side Treatment side Untreated side
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A or B) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (A-B) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
5 10 20
Repe
llenc
y (
)
FemaleMale
A A
AA A
A
A A AA
A
A
A AA
A AA
Figure 1 No significant difference in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus between male and female rats at threedifferent concentrations with three different modes of applicationeach Bars with similar superscripts differ nonsignificantly
31 Effect of 5 Eucalyptus Oil The average mean dailyconsumption of food by female rats was significantly (119875 le005) low from treatment side when 5 oil was applied dailyand alternatively (Table 1) however when the oil was appliedonce a week the average mean daily food consumptionby female rats was found to be nonsignificantly low fromtreatment indicating low repellency of the oil at this modeof applicationThis may be due to the dissipation of repellenteffect of the oil which was applied only on day 1 of the week
The average mean daily food consumption in male rats wassignificantly low from treatment side at all the three modesof application (Table 1)
Average percent repellencywith 5 eucalyptus oil appliedas spray was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) highwhen the oil was applied daily (mode I) in both male andfemale rats (Table 4) The difference in average percentrepellency between the modes II and III was not found todiffer significantly in both the sexes (Figure 2)
32 Effect of 10 Eucalyptus Oil When 10 eucalyptus oilwas applied as spray the average mean daily consumptionof food was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low fromtreatment side when the oil was applied daily in male ratswhereas in female rats the consumption was found to besignificantly low when applied daily as well as when appliedonce a week (Table 2) The average consumption of four dayswas nonsignificantly low in females when the oil was appliedalternatively and in males when the oil was applied once aweek and alternatively In both male and female rats theaverage consumption of treatment food was not found todiffer significantly among the three modes of application
In female rats significant difference in average percentrepellencywith 10 eucalyptus oil was found among the threemodes of application (Figure 2) It was high when the oilwas applied daily followed by when applied once a week andalternatively (Table 4) In male rats a significant differencein average percent repellency was found between modes Iand II however similar differences between modes I and
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table 4 Percent repellency with eucalyptus oil applied as spray using three different concentrations against Rattus rattus
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in the column for four days (a or b) and for average values (A B or C) at each mode of application indicate no significantdifference in percent repellencyValues with different superscripts in a row for four days (a-b) and for average values (AndashC) at eachmode of application indicate significant difference in percentrepellency between the two sexes at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
5 10 20 5 10 20
Female Male
Repe
llenc
y (
)
DailyOnceAlternatively
B
A
CA
A A
A
BB
AB
ABB B A A
A
A
Figure 2 Significant differences in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus among three different modes ofapplication at three different concentrations in bothmale and femalerats Bars with differ superscripts different significantly at 119875 le 005
III and between modes II and III were found to be non-significant (Figure 2) Percent repellency was high when theoil was applied daily followed by when applied alternativelyand once aweek (Table 4)No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed among the four days of treatment atall three modes of application in female rats
However in male rats percent repellency on day 3 oftreatment was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low from
that observed on day 1 of treatment when the oil was appliedalternatively The same was significantly low on days 3 and 4from that observed on day 1 when the oil was applied oncea week (Table 4) This may again be due to dissipation ofrepellent effect of the oil applied on day 2 in mode III andon day 1 in mode II of application respectively
33 Effect of 20EucalyptusOil Theaveragemeandaily foodconsumption was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) lowfrom treatment side compared to untreated side in female ratswhen 20 eucalyptus oil was applied daily and once a week(Table 3) Similar difference in female rats was found to benon-significantwhen the oil was applied alternatively Inmalerats the average mean daily food consumption was found tobe significantly (119875 le 005) low from treatment side comparedto untreated side when the oil was applied daily The similardifferences in male rats were non-significant when the oilwas applied once a week and alternatively (Table 3) Theaverage mean daily food consumption of treatment foodamong the three modes of application was found to differnonsignificantly in both the sexes
The average percent repellency was not found to differsignificantly among the three modes of application in bothmale and female rats (Figure 2) In female rats when 20eucalyptus oil was applied daily and alternatively differencein percent repellency among the four days of treatment wasnot found to be significant however when the oil was appliedonce a week percent repellency was significantly less on day
6 The Scientific World Journal
3 compared to day 1 and also on day 4 compared to days 1 and2 (Table 4)
In male rats no significant difference in percent repel-lencywas observed among four days of application at all threemodes of application No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed between male and female rats whenoil was applied daily and alternatively Significant (119875 le 005)difference was however observed on day 4 when oil wasapplied once a week with higher repellency in case of malerats (4967) from that observed in female rats (2050)Theaverage percent repellency at all themodes of application wasnot found to differ significantly between the rats of two sexes(Table 4)
4 Discussion
During the present studies significant differences werefound in mean daily food consumption from treatment anduntreated sides at different modes of application and atdifferent concentrations of the oil between male and femalerats This may be due to the sex specific variation in responseto R rattus towards the oil Similar sex specific differencesin response to R rattus of two sexes towards toxic baitswere reported by Kaur et al [31] During the present studieshigher standard deviation values than mean values of foodconsumption were observed in some cases which may be dueto individual variation in response shown by rats of differentspecies [32]
In overall no significant difference in repellent effects ofoil applied as spray was found between the two sexes andamong the three concentrations of the oil tested during thepresent studies All the three concentrations were equallyeffective and the repellency was highest when the oil wasapplied daily The cost of spraying 5 eucalyptus oil (theminimum effective concentration) per 1m2 area comes outto be Indian Rs 10 (US $ 017) which can be consideredcost effective if we keep in view the extent of loss causedby R rattus through damage and contamination of foodAmong the various components of eucalyptus oil 1 8-cineole is the most important one largely responsible for avariety of its pesticidal properties [29] The presence of thisessential oil also provides defense advantage to eucalyptusleaves against herbivory and attack by harmful insects [33]The present study is the first of its kind evaluating repellentpotential of eucalyptus oil against vertebrate pests Previousto this repellency of eucalyptus oil has been recorded againstthe tick Ixodes ricinus [34] and against acaricide-resistantmites [35] Application of 10 concentration of 1 8 cineolereduced oviposition rate of Thrips tabaci by 30ndash50 ascompared to untreated controls [36] Eucalyptus oil (1)added to sugar syrup repelled honey bees [37] Eucalyptusoil (2) on filter paper and wood floor repelled termites [38]Eucalyptus oil can also protect plants against rice weevilspine processionarymoths andmushroomflies [28] Essentialoils of eucalyptus appear particularly potent as mosquitorepellents [39]
Since eucalyptus oil possesses a wide spectrum of bio-logical activity and is regarded as safer compounds there
have been attempts to commercialize and market the insecti-cidesrepellent products containing eucalyptus oil as such orbased upon them Quwenling is a eucalyptus-based productthat has been successfully marketed as an insect-repellentin China [40] It provides protection against Anophelesmosquitoes parallel to DEET and has in fact replaced thewidely used synthetic repellent dimethyl phthalate
5 Conclusion
The present studies reveal the potential of eucalyptus oilapplied as spray in repelling away R rattus of both sexesPercent repellency was more when the oil was applied dailyand alternatively as compared to when applied once a weekindicating low persistence of the repellent effect due tovolatile nature of the oil Further studies may be conductedto prepare formulations of the oil leading to slow release ofthe oil so as to increase its persistence for a longer period oftime
Conflict of Interests
No contributing author has a conflict of interests in thepublication of this study
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch NewDelhi India for providing financial assistanceand Professor and Head of the Department of ZoologyPunjab Agricultural University Ludhiana India for thefacilities provided
References
[1] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoRodent damage and infestation inwheat and rice crop field district wise analysis in Punjab StaterdquoIndian Journal of Ecology vol 37 no 2 pp 184ndash188 2010
[2] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoCritical timings of rodenticide baitapplication for controlling rodents in sugarcane crop grown insituations like Punjab Indiardquo Sugar Tech vol 14 no 1 pp 76ndash82 2012
[3] G R Singleton and T D Redhead ldquoHousemouse plaguesinrdquo inMediterranean Landscapes in AustraliamdashMallee Ecosystems andTheir Management J C Noble and R A Bradstock Eds pp418ndash433 CSIRO Melbourne Australia 1989
[4] R Beckmann ldquoMice on the farmrdquo Rural Research vol 138 pp23ndash27 1988
[5] L D Singla N Singla V R Parshad P D Juyal and K SoodldquoRodents as reservoir of parasites in Indiardquo Integrative Zoologyvol 3 no 1 pp 21ndash26 2008
[6] N Singla L D Singla K Gupta and N K Sood ldquoPathologicalalterations in natural cases ofCapillaria hepatica infection aloneand in concurrence with Cysticercus fasciolaris in Bandicotabengalensisrdquo Journal of Parasitic Diseases vol 17 no 1 pp 16ndash202012
[7] V Herbreteau F Bordes S Jittapalapong Y Supputamongkoland S Morand ldquoRodent-borne diseases in Thailand targetingrodent carriers and risky habitatsrdquo Infectious Ecology andEpidemiololgy vol 2 Article ID 18637 2012
The Scientific World Journal 7
[8] T J RobertsTheMammals of Pakistan Earnest Benn LondonUK 1977
[9] J E Brooks E Ahmed and I Hussain ldquoRat population andstored food losses at a Pakistan grain marketrdquo Tech Rep 12National Agriculture Research Centre Islamabad Pakistan1987
[10] M B Isman ldquoNeem and other botanical insecticides barriers tocommercializationrdquo Phytoparasitica vol 25 no 4 pp 339ndash3441997
[11] J Men and F Hall ldquoBiopesticides present status and futureprospectsrdquo in Methods in Biotechnology Biopesticides Use andDelivery F Hall and J Menn Eds vol 5 pp 1ndash10 HumanaPress Totowa NJ USA 1999
[12] P Tripathi N K Dubey and A K Shukla ldquoUse of some essen-tial oils as post-harvest botanical fungicides in themanagementof grey mould of grapes caused by Botrytis cinereardquo WorldJournal of Microbiology and Biotechnology vol 24 no 1 pp 39ndash46 2008
[13] R Firouzi M Azadbakht and A Nabinedjad ldquoAnti-listerialactivity of essential oils of some plantsrdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 14 no 1 pp 75ndash80 1998
[14] H F Khater ldquoEcosmart biorational insecticides alternativeinsect control strategiesrdquo inAdvances in Integrated PestManage-ment F Perveen Ed pp 17ndash60 InTech Rijeka Croatia 2011
[15] N K Dubey R Shukla A Kumar P Singh and B PrakashldquoGlobal scenario on the application of natural products inintegrated pest management programmesrdquo in Natural Productsin Plant Pest Management N K Dubey Ed vol 1 pp 1ndash20CAB International 2011
[16] N Singla and V R Parshad ldquoAntifeeding effects of a neem(Azadirachta indica)-based formulation botanical bird repellentagainst the house rat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Indian Journal of Agricul-tural Sciences vol 77 no 8 pp 502ndash504 2007
[17] V R Parshad M S Saini and S Jindal ldquoRepellent action oftwo fungicides against the house ratRattus rattus and the Indianmole rat Bandicota bengalensisrdquo International Biodeteriorationamp Biodegradation vol 31 no 1 pp 77ndash82 1993
[18] S Kalandakanond-Thongsong S Daendee B Thongsong andV Chavananikul ldquoThe efficacy of pure natural repellents on ratresponses using circular open fieldrdquo Thai Journal of VeterinaryMedicine vol 40 no 4 pp 411ndash418 2010
[19] S S Wager-Page J R Mason E Aronov and G Epple ldquoTherole of sensory cues and feeding context in the mediation ofpine needle oils repellency in prairie volesrdquo in Proceedings ofthe National Wildlife Research Center Repellents ConferenceDenver Colo USA 1995 paper 38
[20] F Dehghani M R Panjehshahin Z Mirzaee and D Mehra-bani ldquoEffect of Foeniculum vulgare organic extract on bloodsex hormones and reproductive tissues of male ratsrdquo Journal ofApplied Animal Research vol 27 no 1 pp 17ndash20 2005
[21] W Deng G Y Wang and S D Zhao ldquoAntifertility effectsof crude ethanol extracts of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Levl)Hutch in male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)rdquoJournal of Applied Animal Research vol 39 no 1 pp 44ndash482011
[22] N Singla and M Garg ldquoEffect of crude cottonseed oil contain-ing gossypol on fertility of male and estrous cycle of femaleBandicota bengalensis Gray and Hardwickerdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 41 no 2 pp 156ndash165 2013
[23] B Djakalia B L Guichard and A E Fernande ldquoEffect of palmoil and soya bean oil on growth performance and health of
rabbit before and after weaningrdquo Journal of Applied AnimalResearch vol 40 no 1 pp 56ndash60 2012
[24] O Koul S Walia and G S Dhaliwal ldquoEssential oils as greenpesticides potential and constraintsrdquo Biopesticide Internationalvol 4 no 1 pp 63ndash84 2008
[25] D J Boland J J Brophy and A P N House Eds EucalyPtusLeaf Oils Use Chemistry Distillation and Marketing InkataPress Sydney Australia 1991
[26] FAO ldquoEucalyptus oilrdquo in Flavour and Fragrances of Plant Originchapter 5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations Rome Italy 1995
[27] A F M Barton ldquoThe oil mallee project a multifaceted indus-trial ecology case studyrdquo Journal of Industrial Ecology vol 3 no2-3 pp 161ndash176 2000
[28] D R Batish H P Singh R K Kohli and S Kaur ldquoEucalyptusessential oil as a natural pesticiderdquo Forest Ecology and Manage-ment vol 256 no 12 pp 2166ndash2174 2008
[29] J A Duke ldquoDr Dukersquos phytochemical and ethnobotanicaldatabasesrdquo 2004 httpwwwars-gringovduke
[30] X Liu Q Chen Z Wang L Xie and Z Xu ldquoAllelopathiceffects of essential oil from Eucalyptus grandis times E urophyllaon pathogenic fungi and pest insectsrdquo Frontiers of Forestry inChina vol 3 no 2 pp 232ndash236 2008
[31] G Kaur D K Kocher H S Sandhu and R S Brar ldquoSex specificvalue of oral LD
50
of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3
) against houserat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Toxicology International vol 15 no 2 pp143ndash144 2008
[32] D Ghosh R Kumar and K Pal ldquoIndividual variation inresponse to simulated hypotoxic stress of ratsrdquo Indian Journalof Experimental Biology vol 50 pp 744ndash748 2012
[33] M I H Brooker and D A Kleinig Field Guide to Eucalyptusvol 1 Bloomings Melbourne Australia 3rd edition 2006
[34] T G T Jaenson S Garboui and K Palsson ldquoRepellency of oilsof lemon eucalyptus geranium and lavender and the mosquitorepellent MyggA natural to Ixodes ricinus (Acari Ixodidae) inthe laboratory and fieldrdquo Journal of Medical Entomology vol 43no 4 pp 731ndash736 2006
[35] JHan S-I Kim B-R Choi S-G Lee andY-J Ahn ldquoFumiganttoxicity of lemon eucalyptus oil constituents to acaricide-susceptible and acaricide-resistant Tetranychus urticaerdquo PestManagement Science vol 67 no 12 pp 1583ndash1588 2011
[36] E H Koschier and K A Sedy ldquoEffects of plant volatiles onthe feeding and oviposition of Thrips tabacirdquo in Thrips andTospoviruses pp 185ndash187 CSIRO Collingwood Australia 2001
[37] S K Patyal and J Kumar ldquoOlfacto-gustatory repellency of someessential oils to the Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica FabrrdquoJournal of Indian Bee vol 51 pp 5ndash8 1989
[38] T S Lin ldquoEffects of essential oil from the leaves of sevenEucalyptus on the control of termiterdquo Forest Products Industriesvol 17 pp 751ndash760 1998
[39] W-S Choi B-S Park S-K Ku and S-E Lee ldquoRepellentactivities of essential oils and monoterpenes against Culexpipiens pallensrdquo Journal of the American Mosquito ControlAssociation vol 18 no 4 pp 348ndash351 2002
[40] J K Trigg ldquoEvaluation of a eucalyptus-based repellent againstAnopheles spp in Tanzaniardquo Journal of the American MosquitoControl Association vol 12 no 2 pp 243ndash246 1996
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in a column for four days of application (a or b) and for average values (A or B) at each mode of application indicate nosignificant differenceValues with different superscripts in a row for each sex for four days of application (a-b) and for average values (A-B) at each mode of application indicatesignificant difference at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
Dai
ly
Onc
e
Alte
rnat
ively
5 10 20
Repe
llenc
y (
)
FemaleMale
A A
AA A
A
A A AA
A
A
A AA
A AA
Figure 1 No significant difference in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus between male and female rats at threedifferent concentrations with three different modes of applicationeach Bars with similar superscripts differ nonsignificantly
31 Effect of 5 Eucalyptus Oil The average mean dailyconsumption of food by female rats was significantly (119875 le005) low from treatment side when 5 oil was applied dailyand alternatively (Table 1) however when the oil was appliedonce a week the average mean daily food consumptionby female rats was found to be nonsignificantly low fromtreatment indicating low repellency of the oil at this modeof applicationThis may be due to the dissipation of repellenteffect of the oil which was applied only on day 1 of the week
The average mean daily food consumption in male rats wassignificantly low from treatment side at all the three modesof application (Table 1)
Average percent repellencywith 5 eucalyptus oil appliedas spray was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) highwhen the oil was applied daily (mode I) in both male andfemale rats (Table 4) The difference in average percentrepellency between the modes II and III was not found todiffer significantly in both the sexes (Figure 2)
32 Effect of 10 Eucalyptus Oil When 10 eucalyptus oilwas applied as spray the average mean daily consumptionof food was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low fromtreatment side when the oil was applied daily in male ratswhereas in female rats the consumption was found to besignificantly low when applied daily as well as when appliedonce a week (Table 2) The average consumption of four dayswas nonsignificantly low in females when the oil was appliedalternatively and in males when the oil was applied once aweek and alternatively In both male and female rats theaverage consumption of treatment food was not found todiffer significantly among the three modes of application
In female rats significant difference in average percentrepellencywith 10 eucalyptus oil was found among the threemodes of application (Figure 2) It was high when the oilwas applied daily followed by when applied once a week andalternatively (Table 4) In male rats a significant differencein average percent repellency was found between modes Iand II however similar differences between modes I and
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table 4 Percent repellency with eucalyptus oil applied as spray using three different concentrations against Rattus rattus
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in the column for four days (a or b) and for average values (A B or C) at each mode of application indicate no significantdifference in percent repellencyValues with different superscripts in a row for four days (a-b) and for average values (AndashC) at eachmode of application indicate significant difference in percentrepellency between the two sexes at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
5 10 20 5 10 20
Female Male
Repe
llenc
y (
)
DailyOnceAlternatively
B
A
CA
A A
A
BB
AB
ABB B A A
A
A
Figure 2 Significant differences in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus among three different modes ofapplication at three different concentrations in bothmale and femalerats Bars with differ superscripts different significantly at 119875 le 005
III and between modes II and III were found to be non-significant (Figure 2) Percent repellency was high when theoil was applied daily followed by when applied alternativelyand once aweek (Table 4)No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed among the four days of treatment atall three modes of application in female rats
However in male rats percent repellency on day 3 oftreatment was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low from
that observed on day 1 of treatment when the oil was appliedalternatively The same was significantly low on days 3 and 4from that observed on day 1 when the oil was applied oncea week (Table 4) This may again be due to dissipation ofrepellent effect of the oil applied on day 2 in mode III andon day 1 in mode II of application respectively
33 Effect of 20EucalyptusOil Theaveragemeandaily foodconsumption was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) lowfrom treatment side compared to untreated side in female ratswhen 20 eucalyptus oil was applied daily and once a week(Table 3) Similar difference in female rats was found to benon-significantwhen the oil was applied alternatively Inmalerats the average mean daily food consumption was found tobe significantly (119875 le 005) low from treatment side comparedto untreated side when the oil was applied daily The similardifferences in male rats were non-significant when the oilwas applied once a week and alternatively (Table 3) Theaverage mean daily food consumption of treatment foodamong the three modes of application was found to differnonsignificantly in both the sexes
The average percent repellency was not found to differsignificantly among the three modes of application in bothmale and female rats (Figure 2) In female rats when 20eucalyptus oil was applied daily and alternatively differencein percent repellency among the four days of treatment wasnot found to be significant however when the oil was appliedonce a week percent repellency was significantly less on day
6 The Scientific World Journal
3 compared to day 1 and also on day 4 compared to days 1 and2 (Table 4)
In male rats no significant difference in percent repel-lencywas observed among four days of application at all threemodes of application No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed between male and female rats whenoil was applied daily and alternatively Significant (119875 le 005)difference was however observed on day 4 when oil wasapplied once a week with higher repellency in case of malerats (4967) from that observed in female rats (2050)Theaverage percent repellency at all themodes of application wasnot found to differ significantly between the rats of two sexes(Table 4)
4 Discussion
During the present studies significant differences werefound in mean daily food consumption from treatment anduntreated sides at different modes of application and atdifferent concentrations of the oil between male and femalerats This may be due to the sex specific variation in responseto R rattus towards the oil Similar sex specific differencesin response to R rattus of two sexes towards toxic baitswere reported by Kaur et al [31] During the present studieshigher standard deviation values than mean values of foodconsumption were observed in some cases which may be dueto individual variation in response shown by rats of differentspecies [32]
In overall no significant difference in repellent effects ofoil applied as spray was found between the two sexes andamong the three concentrations of the oil tested during thepresent studies All the three concentrations were equallyeffective and the repellency was highest when the oil wasapplied daily The cost of spraying 5 eucalyptus oil (theminimum effective concentration) per 1m2 area comes outto be Indian Rs 10 (US $ 017) which can be consideredcost effective if we keep in view the extent of loss causedby R rattus through damage and contamination of foodAmong the various components of eucalyptus oil 1 8-cineole is the most important one largely responsible for avariety of its pesticidal properties [29] The presence of thisessential oil also provides defense advantage to eucalyptusleaves against herbivory and attack by harmful insects [33]The present study is the first of its kind evaluating repellentpotential of eucalyptus oil against vertebrate pests Previousto this repellency of eucalyptus oil has been recorded againstthe tick Ixodes ricinus [34] and against acaricide-resistantmites [35] Application of 10 concentration of 1 8 cineolereduced oviposition rate of Thrips tabaci by 30ndash50 ascompared to untreated controls [36] Eucalyptus oil (1)added to sugar syrup repelled honey bees [37] Eucalyptusoil (2) on filter paper and wood floor repelled termites [38]Eucalyptus oil can also protect plants against rice weevilspine processionarymoths andmushroomflies [28] Essentialoils of eucalyptus appear particularly potent as mosquitorepellents [39]
Since eucalyptus oil possesses a wide spectrum of bio-logical activity and is regarded as safer compounds there
have been attempts to commercialize and market the insecti-cidesrepellent products containing eucalyptus oil as such orbased upon them Quwenling is a eucalyptus-based productthat has been successfully marketed as an insect-repellentin China [40] It provides protection against Anophelesmosquitoes parallel to DEET and has in fact replaced thewidely used synthetic repellent dimethyl phthalate
5 Conclusion
The present studies reveal the potential of eucalyptus oilapplied as spray in repelling away R rattus of both sexesPercent repellency was more when the oil was applied dailyand alternatively as compared to when applied once a weekindicating low persistence of the repellent effect due tovolatile nature of the oil Further studies may be conductedto prepare formulations of the oil leading to slow release ofthe oil so as to increase its persistence for a longer period oftime
Conflict of Interests
No contributing author has a conflict of interests in thepublication of this study
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch NewDelhi India for providing financial assistanceand Professor and Head of the Department of ZoologyPunjab Agricultural University Ludhiana India for thefacilities provided
References
[1] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoRodent damage and infestation inwheat and rice crop field district wise analysis in Punjab StaterdquoIndian Journal of Ecology vol 37 no 2 pp 184ndash188 2010
[2] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoCritical timings of rodenticide baitapplication for controlling rodents in sugarcane crop grown insituations like Punjab Indiardquo Sugar Tech vol 14 no 1 pp 76ndash82 2012
[3] G R Singleton and T D Redhead ldquoHousemouse plaguesinrdquo inMediterranean Landscapes in AustraliamdashMallee Ecosystems andTheir Management J C Noble and R A Bradstock Eds pp418ndash433 CSIRO Melbourne Australia 1989
[4] R Beckmann ldquoMice on the farmrdquo Rural Research vol 138 pp23ndash27 1988
[5] L D Singla N Singla V R Parshad P D Juyal and K SoodldquoRodents as reservoir of parasites in Indiardquo Integrative Zoologyvol 3 no 1 pp 21ndash26 2008
[6] N Singla L D Singla K Gupta and N K Sood ldquoPathologicalalterations in natural cases ofCapillaria hepatica infection aloneand in concurrence with Cysticercus fasciolaris in Bandicotabengalensisrdquo Journal of Parasitic Diseases vol 17 no 1 pp 16ndash202012
[7] V Herbreteau F Bordes S Jittapalapong Y Supputamongkoland S Morand ldquoRodent-borne diseases in Thailand targetingrodent carriers and risky habitatsrdquo Infectious Ecology andEpidemiololgy vol 2 Article ID 18637 2012
The Scientific World Journal 7
[8] T J RobertsTheMammals of Pakistan Earnest Benn LondonUK 1977
[9] J E Brooks E Ahmed and I Hussain ldquoRat population andstored food losses at a Pakistan grain marketrdquo Tech Rep 12National Agriculture Research Centre Islamabad Pakistan1987
[10] M B Isman ldquoNeem and other botanical insecticides barriers tocommercializationrdquo Phytoparasitica vol 25 no 4 pp 339ndash3441997
[11] J Men and F Hall ldquoBiopesticides present status and futureprospectsrdquo in Methods in Biotechnology Biopesticides Use andDelivery F Hall and J Menn Eds vol 5 pp 1ndash10 HumanaPress Totowa NJ USA 1999
[12] P Tripathi N K Dubey and A K Shukla ldquoUse of some essen-tial oils as post-harvest botanical fungicides in themanagementof grey mould of grapes caused by Botrytis cinereardquo WorldJournal of Microbiology and Biotechnology vol 24 no 1 pp 39ndash46 2008
[13] R Firouzi M Azadbakht and A Nabinedjad ldquoAnti-listerialactivity of essential oils of some plantsrdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 14 no 1 pp 75ndash80 1998
[14] H F Khater ldquoEcosmart biorational insecticides alternativeinsect control strategiesrdquo inAdvances in Integrated PestManage-ment F Perveen Ed pp 17ndash60 InTech Rijeka Croatia 2011
[15] N K Dubey R Shukla A Kumar P Singh and B PrakashldquoGlobal scenario on the application of natural products inintegrated pest management programmesrdquo in Natural Productsin Plant Pest Management N K Dubey Ed vol 1 pp 1ndash20CAB International 2011
[16] N Singla and V R Parshad ldquoAntifeeding effects of a neem(Azadirachta indica)-based formulation botanical bird repellentagainst the house rat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Indian Journal of Agricul-tural Sciences vol 77 no 8 pp 502ndash504 2007
[17] V R Parshad M S Saini and S Jindal ldquoRepellent action oftwo fungicides against the house ratRattus rattus and the Indianmole rat Bandicota bengalensisrdquo International Biodeteriorationamp Biodegradation vol 31 no 1 pp 77ndash82 1993
[18] S Kalandakanond-Thongsong S Daendee B Thongsong andV Chavananikul ldquoThe efficacy of pure natural repellents on ratresponses using circular open fieldrdquo Thai Journal of VeterinaryMedicine vol 40 no 4 pp 411ndash418 2010
[19] S S Wager-Page J R Mason E Aronov and G Epple ldquoTherole of sensory cues and feeding context in the mediation ofpine needle oils repellency in prairie volesrdquo in Proceedings ofthe National Wildlife Research Center Repellents ConferenceDenver Colo USA 1995 paper 38
[20] F Dehghani M R Panjehshahin Z Mirzaee and D Mehra-bani ldquoEffect of Foeniculum vulgare organic extract on bloodsex hormones and reproductive tissues of male ratsrdquo Journal ofApplied Animal Research vol 27 no 1 pp 17ndash20 2005
[21] W Deng G Y Wang and S D Zhao ldquoAntifertility effectsof crude ethanol extracts of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Levl)Hutch in male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)rdquoJournal of Applied Animal Research vol 39 no 1 pp 44ndash482011
[22] N Singla and M Garg ldquoEffect of crude cottonseed oil contain-ing gossypol on fertility of male and estrous cycle of femaleBandicota bengalensis Gray and Hardwickerdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 41 no 2 pp 156ndash165 2013
[23] B Djakalia B L Guichard and A E Fernande ldquoEffect of palmoil and soya bean oil on growth performance and health of
rabbit before and after weaningrdquo Journal of Applied AnimalResearch vol 40 no 1 pp 56ndash60 2012
[24] O Koul S Walia and G S Dhaliwal ldquoEssential oils as greenpesticides potential and constraintsrdquo Biopesticide Internationalvol 4 no 1 pp 63ndash84 2008
[25] D J Boland J J Brophy and A P N House Eds EucalyPtusLeaf Oils Use Chemistry Distillation and Marketing InkataPress Sydney Australia 1991
[26] FAO ldquoEucalyptus oilrdquo in Flavour and Fragrances of Plant Originchapter 5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations Rome Italy 1995
[27] A F M Barton ldquoThe oil mallee project a multifaceted indus-trial ecology case studyrdquo Journal of Industrial Ecology vol 3 no2-3 pp 161ndash176 2000
[28] D R Batish H P Singh R K Kohli and S Kaur ldquoEucalyptusessential oil as a natural pesticiderdquo Forest Ecology and Manage-ment vol 256 no 12 pp 2166ndash2174 2008
[29] J A Duke ldquoDr Dukersquos phytochemical and ethnobotanicaldatabasesrdquo 2004 httpwwwars-gringovduke
[30] X Liu Q Chen Z Wang L Xie and Z Xu ldquoAllelopathiceffects of essential oil from Eucalyptus grandis times E urophyllaon pathogenic fungi and pest insectsrdquo Frontiers of Forestry inChina vol 3 no 2 pp 232ndash236 2008
[31] G Kaur D K Kocher H S Sandhu and R S Brar ldquoSex specificvalue of oral LD
50
of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3
) against houserat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Toxicology International vol 15 no 2 pp143ndash144 2008
[32] D Ghosh R Kumar and K Pal ldquoIndividual variation inresponse to simulated hypotoxic stress of ratsrdquo Indian Journalof Experimental Biology vol 50 pp 744ndash748 2012
[33] M I H Brooker and D A Kleinig Field Guide to Eucalyptusvol 1 Bloomings Melbourne Australia 3rd edition 2006
[34] T G T Jaenson S Garboui and K Palsson ldquoRepellency of oilsof lemon eucalyptus geranium and lavender and the mosquitorepellent MyggA natural to Ixodes ricinus (Acari Ixodidae) inthe laboratory and fieldrdquo Journal of Medical Entomology vol 43no 4 pp 731ndash736 2006
[35] JHan S-I Kim B-R Choi S-G Lee andY-J Ahn ldquoFumiganttoxicity of lemon eucalyptus oil constituents to acaricide-susceptible and acaricide-resistant Tetranychus urticaerdquo PestManagement Science vol 67 no 12 pp 1583ndash1588 2011
[36] E H Koschier and K A Sedy ldquoEffects of plant volatiles onthe feeding and oviposition of Thrips tabacirdquo in Thrips andTospoviruses pp 185ndash187 CSIRO Collingwood Australia 2001
[37] S K Patyal and J Kumar ldquoOlfacto-gustatory repellency of someessential oils to the Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica FabrrdquoJournal of Indian Bee vol 51 pp 5ndash8 1989
[38] T S Lin ldquoEffects of essential oil from the leaves of sevenEucalyptus on the control of termiterdquo Forest Products Industriesvol 17 pp 751ndash760 1998
[39] W-S Choi B-S Park S-K Ku and S-E Lee ldquoRepellentactivities of essential oils and monoterpenes against Culexpipiens pallensrdquo Journal of the American Mosquito ControlAssociation vol 18 no 4 pp 348ndash351 2002
[40] J K Trigg ldquoEvaluation of a eucalyptus-based repellent againstAnopheles spp in Tanzaniardquo Journal of the American MosquitoControl Association vol 12 no 2 pp 243ndash246 1996
Values are mean plusmn SD I = daily II = once a week and III = alternativelyValues with similar superscripts in the column for four days (a or b) and for average values (A B or C) at each mode of application indicate no significantdifference in percent repellencyValues with different superscripts in a row for four days (a-b) and for average values (AndashC) at eachmode of application indicate significant difference in percentrepellency between the two sexes at 119875 le 005
0102030405060708090
100
5 10 20 5 10 20
Female Male
Repe
llenc
y (
)
DailyOnceAlternatively
B
A
CA
A A
A
BB
AB
ABB B A A
A
A
Figure 2 Significant differences in average percent repellency ofeucalyptus oil in Rattus rattus among three different modes ofapplication at three different concentrations in bothmale and femalerats Bars with differ superscripts different significantly at 119875 le 005
III and between modes II and III were found to be non-significant (Figure 2) Percent repellency was high when theoil was applied daily followed by when applied alternativelyand once aweek (Table 4)No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed among the four days of treatment atall three modes of application in female rats
However in male rats percent repellency on day 3 oftreatment was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) low from
that observed on day 1 of treatment when the oil was appliedalternatively The same was significantly low on days 3 and 4from that observed on day 1 when the oil was applied oncea week (Table 4) This may again be due to dissipation ofrepellent effect of the oil applied on day 2 in mode III andon day 1 in mode II of application respectively
33 Effect of 20EucalyptusOil Theaveragemeandaily foodconsumption was found to be significantly (119875 le 005) lowfrom treatment side compared to untreated side in female ratswhen 20 eucalyptus oil was applied daily and once a week(Table 3) Similar difference in female rats was found to benon-significantwhen the oil was applied alternatively Inmalerats the average mean daily food consumption was found tobe significantly (119875 le 005) low from treatment side comparedto untreated side when the oil was applied daily The similardifferences in male rats were non-significant when the oilwas applied once a week and alternatively (Table 3) Theaverage mean daily food consumption of treatment foodamong the three modes of application was found to differnonsignificantly in both the sexes
The average percent repellency was not found to differsignificantly among the three modes of application in bothmale and female rats (Figure 2) In female rats when 20eucalyptus oil was applied daily and alternatively differencein percent repellency among the four days of treatment wasnot found to be significant however when the oil was appliedonce a week percent repellency was significantly less on day
6 The Scientific World Journal
3 compared to day 1 and also on day 4 compared to days 1 and2 (Table 4)
In male rats no significant difference in percent repel-lencywas observed among four days of application at all threemodes of application No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed between male and female rats whenoil was applied daily and alternatively Significant (119875 le 005)difference was however observed on day 4 when oil wasapplied once a week with higher repellency in case of malerats (4967) from that observed in female rats (2050)Theaverage percent repellency at all themodes of application wasnot found to differ significantly between the rats of two sexes(Table 4)
4 Discussion
During the present studies significant differences werefound in mean daily food consumption from treatment anduntreated sides at different modes of application and atdifferent concentrations of the oil between male and femalerats This may be due to the sex specific variation in responseto R rattus towards the oil Similar sex specific differencesin response to R rattus of two sexes towards toxic baitswere reported by Kaur et al [31] During the present studieshigher standard deviation values than mean values of foodconsumption were observed in some cases which may be dueto individual variation in response shown by rats of differentspecies [32]
In overall no significant difference in repellent effects ofoil applied as spray was found between the two sexes andamong the three concentrations of the oil tested during thepresent studies All the three concentrations were equallyeffective and the repellency was highest when the oil wasapplied daily The cost of spraying 5 eucalyptus oil (theminimum effective concentration) per 1m2 area comes outto be Indian Rs 10 (US $ 017) which can be consideredcost effective if we keep in view the extent of loss causedby R rattus through damage and contamination of foodAmong the various components of eucalyptus oil 1 8-cineole is the most important one largely responsible for avariety of its pesticidal properties [29] The presence of thisessential oil also provides defense advantage to eucalyptusleaves against herbivory and attack by harmful insects [33]The present study is the first of its kind evaluating repellentpotential of eucalyptus oil against vertebrate pests Previousto this repellency of eucalyptus oil has been recorded againstthe tick Ixodes ricinus [34] and against acaricide-resistantmites [35] Application of 10 concentration of 1 8 cineolereduced oviposition rate of Thrips tabaci by 30ndash50 ascompared to untreated controls [36] Eucalyptus oil (1)added to sugar syrup repelled honey bees [37] Eucalyptusoil (2) on filter paper and wood floor repelled termites [38]Eucalyptus oil can also protect plants against rice weevilspine processionarymoths andmushroomflies [28] Essentialoils of eucalyptus appear particularly potent as mosquitorepellents [39]
Since eucalyptus oil possesses a wide spectrum of bio-logical activity and is regarded as safer compounds there
have been attempts to commercialize and market the insecti-cidesrepellent products containing eucalyptus oil as such orbased upon them Quwenling is a eucalyptus-based productthat has been successfully marketed as an insect-repellentin China [40] It provides protection against Anophelesmosquitoes parallel to DEET and has in fact replaced thewidely used synthetic repellent dimethyl phthalate
5 Conclusion
The present studies reveal the potential of eucalyptus oilapplied as spray in repelling away R rattus of both sexesPercent repellency was more when the oil was applied dailyand alternatively as compared to when applied once a weekindicating low persistence of the repellent effect due tovolatile nature of the oil Further studies may be conductedto prepare formulations of the oil leading to slow release ofthe oil so as to increase its persistence for a longer period oftime
Conflict of Interests
No contributing author has a conflict of interests in thepublication of this study
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch NewDelhi India for providing financial assistanceand Professor and Head of the Department of ZoologyPunjab Agricultural University Ludhiana India for thefacilities provided
References
[1] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoRodent damage and infestation inwheat and rice crop field district wise analysis in Punjab StaterdquoIndian Journal of Ecology vol 37 no 2 pp 184ndash188 2010
[2] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoCritical timings of rodenticide baitapplication for controlling rodents in sugarcane crop grown insituations like Punjab Indiardquo Sugar Tech vol 14 no 1 pp 76ndash82 2012
[3] G R Singleton and T D Redhead ldquoHousemouse plaguesinrdquo inMediterranean Landscapes in AustraliamdashMallee Ecosystems andTheir Management J C Noble and R A Bradstock Eds pp418ndash433 CSIRO Melbourne Australia 1989
[4] R Beckmann ldquoMice on the farmrdquo Rural Research vol 138 pp23ndash27 1988
[5] L D Singla N Singla V R Parshad P D Juyal and K SoodldquoRodents as reservoir of parasites in Indiardquo Integrative Zoologyvol 3 no 1 pp 21ndash26 2008
[6] N Singla L D Singla K Gupta and N K Sood ldquoPathologicalalterations in natural cases ofCapillaria hepatica infection aloneand in concurrence with Cysticercus fasciolaris in Bandicotabengalensisrdquo Journal of Parasitic Diseases vol 17 no 1 pp 16ndash202012
[7] V Herbreteau F Bordes S Jittapalapong Y Supputamongkoland S Morand ldquoRodent-borne diseases in Thailand targetingrodent carriers and risky habitatsrdquo Infectious Ecology andEpidemiololgy vol 2 Article ID 18637 2012
The Scientific World Journal 7
[8] T J RobertsTheMammals of Pakistan Earnest Benn LondonUK 1977
[9] J E Brooks E Ahmed and I Hussain ldquoRat population andstored food losses at a Pakistan grain marketrdquo Tech Rep 12National Agriculture Research Centre Islamabad Pakistan1987
[10] M B Isman ldquoNeem and other botanical insecticides barriers tocommercializationrdquo Phytoparasitica vol 25 no 4 pp 339ndash3441997
[11] J Men and F Hall ldquoBiopesticides present status and futureprospectsrdquo in Methods in Biotechnology Biopesticides Use andDelivery F Hall and J Menn Eds vol 5 pp 1ndash10 HumanaPress Totowa NJ USA 1999
[12] P Tripathi N K Dubey and A K Shukla ldquoUse of some essen-tial oils as post-harvest botanical fungicides in themanagementof grey mould of grapes caused by Botrytis cinereardquo WorldJournal of Microbiology and Biotechnology vol 24 no 1 pp 39ndash46 2008
[13] R Firouzi M Azadbakht and A Nabinedjad ldquoAnti-listerialactivity of essential oils of some plantsrdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 14 no 1 pp 75ndash80 1998
[14] H F Khater ldquoEcosmart biorational insecticides alternativeinsect control strategiesrdquo inAdvances in Integrated PestManage-ment F Perveen Ed pp 17ndash60 InTech Rijeka Croatia 2011
[15] N K Dubey R Shukla A Kumar P Singh and B PrakashldquoGlobal scenario on the application of natural products inintegrated pest management programmesrdquo in Natural Productsin Plant Pest Management N K Dubey Ed vol 1 pp 1ndash20CAB International 2011
[16] N Singla and V R Parshad ldquoAntifeeding effects of a neem(Azadirachta indica)-based formulation botanical bird repellentagainst the house rat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Indian Journal of Agricul-tural Sciences vol 77 no 8 pp 502ndash504 2007
[17] V R Parshad M S Saini and S Jindal ldquoRepellent action oftwo fungicides against the house ratRattus rattus and the Indianmole rat Bandicota bengalensisrdquo International Biodeteriorationamp Biodegradation vol 31 no 1 pp 77ndash82 1993
[18] S Kalandakanond-Thongsong S Daendee B Thongsong andV Chavananikul ldquoThe efficacy of pure natural repellents on ratresponses using circular open fieldrdquo Thai Journal of VeterinaryMedicine vol 40 no 4 pp 411ndash418 2010
[19] S S Wager-Page J R Mason E Aronov and G Epple ldquoTherole of sensory cues and feeding context in the mediation ofpine needle oils repellency in prairie volesrdquo in Proceedings ofthe National Wildlife Research Center Repellents ConferenceDenver Colo USA 1995 paper 38
[20] F Dehghani M R Panjehshahin Z Mirzaee and D Mehra-bani ldquoEffect of Foeniculum vulgare organic extract on bloodsex hormones and reproductive tissues of male ratsrdquo Journal ofApplied Animal Research vol 27 no 1 pp 17ndash20 2005
[21] W Deng G Y Wang and S D Zhao ldquoAntifertility effectsof crude ethanol extracts of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Levl)Hutch in male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)rdquoJournal of Applied Animal Research vol 39 no 1 pp 44ndash482011
[22] N Singla and M Garg ldquoEffect of crude cottonseed oil contain-ing gossypol on fertility of male and estrous cycle of femaleBandicota bengalensis Gray and Hardwickerdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 41 no 2 pp 156ndash165 2013
[23] B Djakalia B L Guichard and A E Fernande ldquoEffect of palmoil and soya bean oil on growth performance and health of
rabbit before and after weaningrdquo Journal of Applied AnimalResearch vol 40 no 1 pp 56ndash60 2012
[24] O Koul S Walia and G S Dhaliwal ldquoEssential oils as greenpesticides potential and constraintsrdquo Biopesticide Internationalvol 4 no 1 pp 63ndash84 2008
[25] D J Boland J J Brophy and A P N House Eds EucalyPtusLeaf Oils Use Chemistry Distillation and Marketing InkataPress Sydney Australia 1991
[26] FAO ldquoEucalyptus oilrdquo in Flavour and Fragrances of Plant Originchapter 5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations Rome Italy 1995
[27] A F M Barton ldquoThe oil mallee project a multifaceted indus-trial ecology case studyrdquo Journal of Industrial Ecology vol 3 no2-3 pp 161ndash176 2000
[28] D R Batish H P Singh R K Kohli and S Kaur ldquoEucalyptusessential oil as a natural pesticiderdquo Forest Ecology and Manage-ment vol 256 no 12 pp 2166ndash2174 2008
[29] J A Duke ldquoDr Dukersquos phytochemical and ethnobotanicaldatabasesrdquo 2004 httpwwwars-gringovduke
[30] X Liu Q Chen Z Wang L Xie and Z Xu ldquoAllelopathiceffects of essential oil from Eucalyptus grandis times E urophyllaon pathogenic fungi and pest insectsrdquo Frontiers of Forestry inChina vol 3 no 2 pp 232ndash236 2008
[31] G Kaur D K Kocher H S Sandhu and R S Brar ldquoSex specificvalue of oral LD
50
of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3
) against houserat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Toxicology International vol 15 no 2 pp143ndash144 2008
[32] D Ghosh R Kumar and K Pal ldquoIndividual variation inresponse to simulated hypotoxic stress of ratsrdquo Indian Journalof Experimental Biology vol 50 pp 744ndash748 2012
[33] M I H Brooker and D A Kleinig Field Guide to Eucalyptusvol 1 Bloomings Melbourne Australia 3rd edition 2006
[34] T G T Jaenson S Garboui and K Palsson ldquoRepellency of oilsof lemon eucalyptus geranium and lavender and the mosquitorepellent MyggA natural to Ixodes ricinus (Acari Ixodidae) inthe laboratory and fieldrdquo Journal of Medical Entomology vol 43no 4 pp 731ndash736 2006
[35] JHan S-I Kim B-R Choi S-G Lee andY-J Ahn ldquoFumiganttoxicity of lemon eucalyptus oil constituents to acaricide-susceptible and acaricide-resistant Tetranychus urticaerdquo PestManagement Science vol 67 no 12 pp 1583ndash1588 2011
[36] E H Koschier and K A Sedy ldquoEffects of plant volatiles onthe feeding and oviposition of Thrips tabacirdquo in Thrips andTospoviruses pp 185ndash187 CSIRO Collingwood Australia 2001
[37] S K Patyal and J Kumar ldquoOlfacto-gustatory repellency of someessential oils to the Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica FabrrdquoJournal of Indian Bee vol 51 pp 5ndash8 1989
[38] T S Lin ldquoEffects of essential oil from the leaves of sevenEucalyptus on the control of termiterdquo Forest Products Industriesvol 17 pp 751ndash760 1998
[39] W-S Choi B-S Park S-K Ku and S-E Lee ldquoRepellentactivities of essential oils and monoterpenes against Culexpipiens pallensrdquo Journal of the American Mosquito ControlAssociation vol 18 no 4 pp 348ndash351 2002
[40] J K Trigg ldquoEvaluation of a eucalyptus-based repellent againstAnopheles spp in Tanzaniardquo Journal of the American MosquitoControl Association vol 12 no 2 pp 243ndash246 1996
3 compared to day 1 and also on day 4 compared to days 1 and2 (Table 4)
In male rats no significant difference in percent repel-lencywas observed among four days of application at all threemodes of application No significant difference in percentrepellency was observed between male and female rats whenoil was applied daily and alternatively Significant (119875 le 005)difference was however observed on day 4 when oil wasapplied once a week with higher repellency in case of malerats (4967) from that observed in female rats (2050)Theaverage percent repellency at all themodes of application wasnot found to differ significantly between the rats of two sexes(Table 4)
4 Discussion
During the present studies significant differences werefound in mean daily food consumption from treatment anduntreated sides at different modes of application and atdifferent concentrations of the oil between male and femalerats This may be due to the sex specific variation in responseto R rattus towards the oil Similar sex specific differencesin response to R rattus of two sexes towards toxic baitswere reported by Kaur et al [31] During the present studieshigher standard deviation values than mean values of foodconsumption were observed in some cases which may be dueto individual variation in response shown by rats of differentspecies [32]
In overall no significant difference in repellent effects ofoil applied as spray was found between the two sexes andamong the three concentrations of the oil tested during thepresent studies All the three concentrations were equallyeffective and the repellency was highest when the oil wasapplied daily The cost of spraying 5 eucalyptus oil (theminimum effective concentration) per 1m2 area comes outto be Indian Rs 10 (US $ 017) which can be consideredcost effective if we keep in view the extent of loss causedby R rattus through damage and contamination of foodAmong the various components of eucalyptus oil 1 8-cineole is the most important one largely responsible for avariety of its pesticidal properties [29] The presence of thisessential oil also provides defense advantage to eucalyptusleaves against herbivory and attack by harmful insects [33]The present study is the first of its kind evaluating repellentpotential of eucalyptus oil against vertebrate pests Previousto this repellency of eucalyptus oil has been recorded againstthe tick Ixodes ricinus [34] and against acaricide-resistantmites [35] Application of 10 concentration of 1 8 cineolereduced oviposition rate of Thrips tabaci by 30ndash50 ascompared to untreated controls [36] Eucalyptus oil (1)added to sugar syrup repelled honey bees [37] Eucalyptusoil (2) on filter paper and wood floor repelled termites [38]Eucalyptus oil can also protect plants against rice weevilspine processionarymoths andmushroomflies [28] Essentialoils of eucalyptus appear particularly potent as mosquitorepellents [39]
Since eucalyptus oil possesses a wide spectrum of bio-logical activity and is regarded as safer compounds there
have been attempts to commercialize and market the insecti-cidesrepellent products containing eucalyptus oil as such orbased upon them Quwenling is a eucalyptus-based productthat has been successfully marketed as an insect-repellentin China [40] It provides protection against Anophelesmosquitoes parallel to DEET and has in fact replaced thewidely used synthetic repellent dimethyl phthalate
5 Conclusion
The present studies reveal the potential of eucalyptus oilapplied as spray in repelling away R rattus of both sexesPercent repellency was more when the oil was applied dailyand alternatively as compared to when applied once a weekindicating low persistence of the repellent effect due tovolatile nature of the oil Further studies may be conductedto prepare formulations of the oil leading to slow release ofthe oil so as to increase its persistence for a longer period oftime
Conflict of Interests
No contributing author has a conflict of interests in thepublication of this study
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch NewDelhi India for providing financial assistanceand Professor and Head of the Department of ZoologyPunjab Agricultural University Ludhiana India for thefacilities provided
References
[1] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoRodent damage and infestation inwheat and rice crop field district wise analysis in Punjab StaterdquoIndian Journal of Ecology vol 37 no 2 pp 184ndash188 2010
[2] N Singla and B K Babbar ldquoCritical timings of rodenticide baitapplication for controlling rodents in sugarcane crop grown insituations like Punjab Indiardquo Sugar Tech vol 14 no 1 pp 76ndash82 2012
[3] G R Singleton and T D Redhead ldquoHousemouse plaguesinrdquo inMediterranean Landscapes in AustraliamdashMallee Ecosystems andTheir Management J C Noble and R A Bradstock Eds pp418ndash433 CSIRO Melbourne Australia 1989
[4] R Beckmann ldquoMice on the farmrdquo Rural Research vol 138 pp23ndash27 1988
[5] L D Singla N Singla V R Parshad P D Juyal and K SoodldquoRodents as reservoir of parasites in Indiardquo Integrative Zoologyvol 3 no 1 pp 21ndash26 2008
[6] N Singla L D Singla K Gupta and N K Sood ldquoPathologicalalterations in natural cases ofCapillaria hepatica infection aloneand in concurrence with Cysticercus fasciolaris in Bandicotabengalensisrdquo Journal of Parasitic Diseases vol 17 no 1 pp 16ndash202012
[7] V Herbreteau F Bordes S Jittapalapong Y Supputamongkoland S Morand ldquoRodent-borne diseases in Thailand targetingrodent carriers and risky habitatsrdquo Infectious Ecology andEpidemiololgy vol 2 Article ID 18637 2012
The Scientific World Journal 7
[8] T J RobertsTheMammals of Pakistan Earnest Benn LondonUK 1977
[9] J E Brooks E Ahmed and I Hussain ldquoRat population andstored food losses at a Pakistan grain marketrdquo Tech Rep 12National Agriculture Research Centre Islamabad Pakistan1987
[10] M B Isman ldquoNeem and other botanical insecticides barriers tocommercializationrdquo Phytoparasitica vol 25 no 4 pp 339ndash3441997
[11] J Men and F Hall ldquoBiopesticides present status and futureprospectsrdquo in Methods in Biotechnology Biopesticides Use andDelivery F Hall and J Menn Eds vol 5 pp 1ndash10 HumanaPress Totowa NJ USA 1999
[12] P Tripathi N K Dubey and A K Shukla ldquoUse of some essen-tial oils as post-harvest botanical fungicides in themanagementof grey mould of grapes caused by Botrytis cinereardquo WorldJournal of Microbiology and Biotechnology vol 24 no 1 pp 39ndash46 2008
[13] R Firouzi M Azadbakht and A Nabinedjad ldquoAnti-listerialactivity of essential oils of some plantsrdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 14 no 1 pp 75ndash80 1998
[14] H F Khater ldquoEcosmart biorational insecticides alternativeinsect control strategiesrdquo inAdvances in Integrated PestManage-ment F Perveen Ed pp 17ndash60 InTech Rijeka Croatia 2011
[15] N K Dubey R Shukla A Kumar P Singh and B PrakashldquoGlobal scenario on the application of natural products inintegrated pest management programmesrdquo in Natural Productsin Plant Pest Management N K Dubey Ed vol 1 pp 1ndash20CAB International 2011
[16] N Singla and V R Parshad ldquoAntifeeding effects of a neem(Azadirachta indica)-based formulation botanical bird repellentagainst the house rat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Indian Journal of Agricul-tural Sciences vol 77 no 8 pp 502ndash504 2007
[17] V R Parshad M S Saini and S Jindal ldquoRepellent action oftwo fungicides against the house ratRattus rattus and the Indianmole rat Bandicota bengalensisrdquo International Biodeteriorationamp Biodegradation vol 31 no 1 pp 77ndash82 1993
[18] S Kalandakanond-Thongsong S Daendee B Thongsong andV Chavananikul ldquoThe efficacy of pure natural repellents on ratresponses using circular open fieldrdquo Thai Journal of VeterinaryMedicine vol 40 no 4 pp 411ndash418 2010
[19] S S Wager-Page J R Mason E Aronov and G Epple ldquoTherole of sensory cues and feeding context in the mediation ofpine needle oils repellency in prairie volesrdquo in Proceedings ofthe National Wildlife Research Center Repellents ConferenceDenver Colo USA 1995 paper 38
[20] F Dehghani M R Panjehshahin Z Mirzaee and D Mehra-bani ldquoEffect of Foeniculum vulgare organic extract on bloodsex hormones and reproductive tissues of male ratsrdquo Journal ofApplied Animal Research vol 27 no 1 pp 17ndash20 2005
[21] W Deng G Y Wang and S D Zhao ldquoAntifertility effectsof crude ethanol extracts of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Levl)Hutch in male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)rdquoJournal of Applied Animal Research vol 39 no 1 pp 44ndash482011
[22] N Singla and M Garg ldquoEffect of crude cottonseed oil contain-ing gossypol on fertility of male and estrous cycle of femaleBandicota bengalensis Gray and Hardwickerdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 41 no 2 pp 156ndash165 2013
[23] B Djakalia B L Guichard and A E Fernande ldquoEffect of palmoil and soya bean oil on growth performance and health of
rabbit before and after weaningrdquo Journal of Applied AnimalResearch vol 40 no 1 pp 56ndash60 2012
[24] O Koul S Walia and G S Dhaliwal ldquoEssential oils as greenpesticides potential and constraintsrdquo Biopesticide Internationalvol 4 no 1 pp 63ndash84 2008
[25] D J Boland J J Brophy and A P N House Eds EucalyPtusLeaf Oils Use Chemistry Distillation and Marketing InkataPress Sydney Australia 1991
[26] FAO ldquoEucalyptus oilrdquo in Flavour and Fragrances of Plant Originchapter 5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations Rome Italy 1995
[27] A F M Barton ldquoThe oil mallee project a multifaceted indus-trial ecology case studyrdquo Journal of Industrial Ecology vol 3 no2-3 pp 161ndash176 2000
[28] D R Batish H P Singh R K Kohli and S Kaur ldquoEucalyptusessential oil as a natural pesticiderdquo Forest Ecology and Manage-ment vol 256 no 12 pp 2166ndash2174 2008
[29] J A Duke ldquoDr Dukersquos phytochemical and ethnobotanicaldatabasesrdquo 2004 httpwwwars-gringovduke
[30] X Liu Q Chen Z Wang L Xie and Z Xu ldquoAllelopathiceffects of essential oil from Eucalyptus grandis times E urophyllaon pathogenic fungi and pest insectsrdquo Frontiers of Forestry inChina vol 3 no 2 pp 232ndash236 2008
[31] G Kaur D K Kocher H S Sandhu and R S Brar ldquoSex specificvalue of oral LD
50
of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3
) against houserat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Toxicology International vol 15 no 2 pp143ndash144 2008
[32] D Ghosh R Kumar and K Pal ldquoIndividual variation inresponse to simulated hypotoxic stress of ratsrdquo Indian Journalof Experimental Biology vol 50 pp 744ndash748 2012
[33] M I H Brooker and D A Kleinig Field Guide to Eucalyptusvol 1 Bloomings Melbourne Australia 3rd edition 2006
[34] T G T Jaenson S Garboui and K Palsson ldquoRepellency of oilsof lemon eucalyptus geranium and lavender and the mosquitorepellent MyggA natural to Ixodes ricinus (Acari Ixodidae) inthe laboratory and fieldrdquo Journal of Medical Entomology vol 43no 4 pp 731ndash736 2006
[35] JHan S-I Kim B-R Choi S-G Lee andY-J Ahn ldquoFumiganttoxicity of lemon eucalyptus oil constituents to acaricide-susceptible and acaricide-resistant Tetranychus urticaerdquo PestManagement Science vol 67 no 12 pp 1583ndash1588 2011
[36] E H Koschier and K A Sedy ldquoEffects of plant volatiles onthe feeding and oviposition of Thrips tabacirdquo in Thrips andTospoviruses pp 185ndash187 CSIRO Collingwood Australia 2001
[37] S K Patyal and J Kumar ldquoOlfacto-gustatory repellency of someessential oils to the Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica FabrrdquoJournal of Indian Bee vol 51 pp 5ndash8 1989
[38] T S Lin ldquoEffects of essential oil from the leaves of sevenEucalyptus on the control of termiterdquo Forest Products Industriesvol 17 pp 751ndash760 1998
[39] W-S Choi B-S Park S-K Ku and S-E Lee ldquoRepellentactivities of essential oils and monoterpenes against Culexpipiens pallensrdquo Journal of the American Mosquito ControlAssociation vol 18 no 4 pp 348ndash351 2002
[40] J K Trigg ldquoEvaluation of a eucalyptus-based repellent againstAnopheles spp in Tanzaniardquo Journal of the American MosquitoControl Association vol 12 no 2 pp 243ndash246 1996
[8] T J RobertsTheMammals of Pakistan Earnest Benn LondonUK 1977
[9] J E Brooks E Ahmed and I Hussain ldquoRat population andstored food losses at a Pakistan grain marketrdquo Tech Rep 12National Agriculture Research Centre Islamabad Pakistan1987
[10] M B Isman ldquoNeem and other botanical insecticides barriers tocommercializationrdquo Phytoparasitica vol 25 no 4 pp 339ndash3441997
[11] J Men and F Hall ldquoBiopesticides present status and futureprospectsrdquo in Methods in Biotechnology Biopesticides Use andDelivery F Hall and J Menn Eds vol 5 pp 1ndash10 HumanaPress Totowa NJ USA 1999
[12] P Tripathi N K Dubey and A K Shukla ldquoUse of some essen-tial oils as post-harvest botanical fungicides in themanagementof grey mould of grapes caused by Botrytis cinereardquo WorldJournal of Microbiology and Biotechnology vol 24 no 1 pp 39ndash46 2008
[13] R Firouzi M Azadbakht and A Nabinedjad ldquoAnti-listerialactivity of essential oils of some plantsrdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 14 no 1 pp 75ndash80 1998
[14] H F Khater ldquoEcosmart biorational insecticides alternativeinsect control strategiesrdquo inAdvances in Integrated PestManage-ment F Perveen Ed pp 17ndash60 InTech Rijeka Croatia 2011
[15] N K Dubey R Shukla A Kumar P Singh and B PrakashldquoGlobal scenario on the application of natural products inintegrated pest management programmesrdquo in Natural Productsin Plant Pest Management N K Dubey Ed vol 1 pp 1ndash20CAB International 2011
[16] N Singla and V R Parshad ldquoAntifeeding effects of a neem(Azadirachta indica)-based formulation botanical bird repellentagainst the house rat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Indian Journal of Agricul-tural Sciences vol 77 no 8 pp 502ndash504 2007
[17] V R Parshad M S Saini and S Jindal ldquoRepellent action oftwo fungicides against the house ratRattus rattus and the Indianmole rat Bandicota bengalensisrdquo International Biodeteriorationamp Biodegradation vol 31 no 1 pp 77ndash82 1993
[18] S Kalandakanond-Thongsong S Daendee B Thongsong andV Chavananikul ldquoThe efficacy of pure natural repellents on ratresponses using circular open fieldrdquo Thai Journal of VeterinaryMedicine vol 40 no 4 pp 411ndash418 2010
[19] S S Wager-Page J R Mason E Aronov and G Epple ldquoTherole of sensory cues and feeding context in the mediation ofpine needle oils repellency in prairie volesrdquo in Proceedings ofthe National Wildlife Research Center Repellents ConferenceDenver Colo USA 1995 paper 38
[20] F Dehghani M R Panjehshahin Z Mirzaee and D Mehra-bani ldquoEffect of Foeniculum vulgare organic extract on bloodsex hormones and reproductive tissues of male ratsrdquo Journal ofApplied Animal Research vol 27 no 1 pp 17ndash20 2005
[21] W Deng G Y Wang and S D Zhao ldquoAntifertility effectsof crude ethanol extracts of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Levl)Hutch in male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)rdquoJournal of Applied Animal Research vol 39 no 1 pp 44ndash482011
[22] N Singla and M Garg ldquoEffect of crude cottonseed oil contain-ing gossypol on fertility of male and estrous cycle of femaleBandicota bengalensis Gray and Hardwickerdquo Journal of AppliedAnimal Research vol 41 no 2 pp 156ndash165 2013
[23] B Djakalia B L Guichard and A E Fernande ldquoEffect of palmoil and soya bean oil on growth performance and health of
rabbit before and after weaningrdquo Journal of Applied AnimalResearch vol 40 no 1 pp 56ndash60 2012
[24] O Koul S Walia and G S Dhaliwal ldquoEssential oils as greenpesticides potential and constraintsrdquo Biopesticide Internationalvol 4 no 1 pp 63ndash84 2008
[25] D J Boland J J Brophy and A P N House Eds EucalyPtusLeaf Oils Use Chemistry Distillation and Marketing InkataPress Sydney Australia 1991
[26] FAO ldquoEucalyptus oilrdquo in Flavour and Fragrances of Plant Originchapter 5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations Rome Italy 1995
[27] A F M Barton ldquoThe oil mallee project a multifaceted indus-trial ecology case studyrdquo Journal of Industrial Ecology vol 3 no2-3 pp 161ndash176 2000
[28] D R Batish H P Singh R K Kohli and S Kaur ldquoEucalyptusessential oil as a natural pesticiderdquo Forest Ecology and Manage-ment vol 256 no 12 pp 2166ndash2174 2008
[29] J A Duke ldquoDr Dukersquos phytochemical and ethnobotanicaldatabasesrdquo 2004 httpwwwars-gringovduke
[30] X Liu Q Chen Z Wang L Xie and Z Xu ldquoAllelopathiceffects of essential oil from Eucalyptus grandis times E urophyllaon pathogenic fungi and pest insectsrdquo Frontiers of Forestry inChina vol 3 no 2 pp 232ndash236 2008
[31] G Kaur D K Kocher H S Sandhu and R S Brar ldquoSex specificvalue of oral LD
50
of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3
) against houserat (Rattus rattus)rdquo Toxicology International vol 15 no 2 pp143ndash144 2008
[32] D Ghosh R Kumar and K Pal ldquoIndividual variation inresponse to simulated hypotoxic stress of ratsrdquo Indian Journalof Experimental Biology vol 50 pp 744ndash748 2012
[33] M I H Brooker and D A Kleinig Field Guide to Eucalyptusvol 1 Bloomings Melbourne Australia 3rd edition 2006
[34] T G T Jaenson S Garboui and K Palsson ldquoRepellency of oilsof lemon eucalyptus geranium and lavender and the mosquitorepellent MyggA natural to Ixodes ricinus (Acari Ixodidae) inthe laboratory and fieldrdquo Journal of Medical Entomology vol 43no 4 pp 731ndash736 2006
[35] JHan S-I Kim B-R Choi S-G Lee andY-J Ahn ldquoFumiganttoxicity of lemon eucalyptus oil constituents to acaricide-susceptible and acaricide-resistant Tetranychus urticaerdquo PestManagement Science vol 67 no 12 pp 1583ndash1588 2011
[36] E H Koschier and K A Sedy ldquoEffects of plant volatiles onthe feeding and oviposition of Thrips tabacirdquo in Thrips andTospoviruses pp 185ndash187 CSIRO Collingwood Australia 2001
[37] S K Patyal and J Kumar ldquoOlfacto-gustatory repellency of someessential oils to the Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica FabrrdquoJournal of Indian Bee vol 51 pp 5ndash8 1989
[38] T S Lin ldquoEffects of essential oil from the leaves of sevenEucalyptus on the control of termiterdquo Forest Products Industriesvol 17 pp 751ndash760 1998
[39] W-S Choi B-S Park S-K Ku and S-E Lee ldquoRepellentactivities of essential oils and monoterpenes against Culexpipiens pallensrdquo Journal of the American Mosquito ControlAssociation vol 18 no 4 pp 348ndash351 2002
[40] J K Trigg ldquoEvaluation of a eucalyptus-based repellent againstAnopheles spp in Tanzaniardquo Journal of the American MosquitoControl Association vol 12 no 2 pp 243ndash246 1996