Anise and Fennel Essential Oils and Their Combination as Natural and Safe Housefly Repellents
Hataichanok Passara,
Sirawut Sittichok,
Cheepchanok Puwanard,
Jirisuda Sinthusiri,
Tanapoom Moungthipmalai,
Kouhei Murata,
Mayura Soonwera
Affiliations
Hataichanok Passara
Office of Administrative Interdisciplinary Program on Agricultural Technology, School of Agricultural Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand
Sirawut Sittichok
School of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand
Cheepchanok Puwanard
Office of Administrative Interdisciplinary Program on Agricultural Technology, School of Agricultural Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand
Jirisuda Sinthusiri
Community Public Health Program, Faculty of Public and Environmental Health, Huachiew Chalermprakiet University, Samut Prakan 10540, Thailand
Tanapoom Moungthipmalai
Department of Plant Production Technology, School of Agricultural Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand
Kouhei Murata
School of Agriculture, Tokai University, Kumamoto 862-8652, Japan
Mayura Soonwera
Office of Administrative Interdisciplinary Program on Agricultural Technology, School of Agricultural Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand
Essential oils (EOs) are effective repellents and eco-friendly alternatives. We tested single and combination EOs of fennel and anise for repellency and stability against houseflies. All treatments were stored at 27 °C for up to 360 days. Efficacies were compared against α-cypermethrin as a reference. Safety bioassay used on two representative non-target species (guppies and earthworms) confirmed safety. The strongest repellency and stability, 100% repellency and RC50 of 0.4 mL/m3 on day 1, was achieved by a fennel + anise EO combination (1:1). After 360 days, these combinations remained effective (95% repellency), and RC50 = 0.8 mL/m3. The EO combinations were more effective than all single EOs and α-cypermethrin at all times, showing strong synergy with a synergistic repellent index of 2.4 to 3.3. This fennel + anise EO combination was more than 24 times more effective as a repellent than α-cypermethrin. Morphological damage included damaged antennae with twisted flagella and abnormal aristae. All single and combination EOs were not toxic to the non-targets and could be considered safe, whereas α-cypermethrin was highly toxic to them. Thus, the fennel + anise EO combination has great potential to be developed as a safe, natural repellent for managing housefly populations.
