The castor oil plant, which is used to make laxatives, now possibly holds the key to controlling the mosquito menace in a ‘green’ way.
A study conducted by the department of zoonosis at Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing, India, has revealed that castor oil can be used to kill mosquito larvae.
In laboratory tests, the castor seed oil extract was able to kill 50% of the larvae in 24 hours.
“Among the various herbal plants that we tested, the oil extract from the seed of the castor plant showed the best results for larvicidal [killing larvae] activity as well as inhibiting growth of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae,” said Dr Saroj Bapna, scientific officer of the department.
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