Cinnamon Extract (Cinnamomum Verum) As Natural Repellent for

Fire Ants (Solenopsis Geminata)

Proponents:
Kenneth Dave M.Bughao

Grade and Section

IX-Curie

Submitted in partial fulfillment for Research 1

Agusan National High School

A.D Curato Street, Butuan City

Research Teacher
Marie Lou S. Paler
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Insect pests are constantly attacking farm crops, rendering

insecticides effective in reducing losses.For modern crop

management, synthetic insecticides such as organophosphates are

important and effective devices.But, because of the chemicals

they bring, they pose serious risks to the environment and

people.Through fruit, water and air, people come into contact

with toxic pesticides.It occurs as dust and spray from pesticide

s pass through the wind to areas that are not exposed to pestici

des.Nearly 98% of sprayed pesticides do not achieve their goals.

They enter soil, contaminate streams, and damage wildlife,

including the targeted pests natural predators. Pesticides such as

DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) killed bald eagles, birds, fish

and even people.

Fire ants are omnivores, which means they feed on food sour

ces from animals or vegetables.The diet of the fire ant worker i

ncludes beetles, earthworms, ticks, spiders, honeydew, arthropod

larvae, and other sweets.Imported fire ants from nonnative red

are a more serious problem.They damage crops, cause decrease in

indigenous populations, and even disable machinery.eryCarpenter

ants live in rotting wood, but they do no damage to plants in

the greenhouse. Cinnamon is often considered to be an effective

option for DIY ant control. Cinnamon is thought to be a natural

repellent because ants are unable to stand up to the smell.

In contrast to sticks or powder, this home remedy for ants

involves using essential oil from cinnamon. It is believed that

soaking a cotton ball in an essential oil and water solution of

cinnamon and wiping down common ant hot spots like doors and win

dows will help repel ants.

Statement of the Problem

This study tries to find out the feasibility Cinnamon

(Cinnamomum Verum)as an ant repellent.

It specifically tries to answer the following questions:

 Is it feasible to be a good source of repellent?

 Is it harmful to plants?

 Is it more effective than commercial repellent?

Significance of the Study

This study can be significant to anyone. It helps in

everyday purposes to get rid of ants which may bite and cause

irritation on the skin. It helps farmers in controlling pests

that might harm the crops, and this study is also affordable and

environment friendly.

Scope and Delimitation

This study is limited to Cinnamon (Cinnamomum Verum) and

fire

Ants (S. Geminata) only.

Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Cinnamon Concentrate Rate of the death of ants

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice that comes from the branches of trees

of the "Cinnamomum" family. It is native to the Caribbean, South

America, and Southeast Asia(Nordqvist 2017). Cinnamon primarily

contains vital oils and other derivatives, such as

cinnamaldehyde, cinnamic acid, and cinnamate(Rao 2014). Cinnamon

is also called as Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. Cinnamon is a spice

that can be obtained in the inner bark of a small, tropical

evergreen cinnamon tree(Park 2011). Cinnamon has been used as a

spice and as traditional herbal medicine for centuries. The

available in vitro and animal in vivo evidence suggests that

cinnamon has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant,

antitumor, cardiovascular, cholesterol-lowering, and

immunomodulatory effects(Joerg Gruenwald, Janine Freeder et

al,,2010).Cinnamon has been used as a spice for thousands of

years several references to it are found in the Bible in Egypt,

cinnamon was a spice used in embalming fluid (Barceloux 2009).

Cinnamomum cassia bark is the outer skin of an evergreen tall

tree belonging to the family Lauraceae containing several active

components such as essential oils (cinnamic aldehyde and

cinnamyl aldehyde), tannin, mucus and carbohydrate(HK Kwon et

al, 2010). Cinnamon essential oil is an innovative and useful

tool as alternative to the use of synthetic fungicides or other

sanitation techniques in storage/packaging(Tzortzakis 2009).

Essential oils obtained from the bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum

(cinnamon) and the rhizomes of Zingiber officinale (ginger) were

characterized by analytical TLC and GC/MS, and their

antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds were detected by TLC-

bio-autography assays(G. S. El-Baroty1 , H. H. Abd El-Baky1 et

al,,2010). Five cinnamon species, viz. Cinnamomum

cassia, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cinnamomum tamala, Cinnamomum

burmannii, Cinnamomum pauciflorum, were chosen to prepare

essential oils by hydrodistillation and to identify and quantify

their volatile compound compositions(Rui Wang, Bao Yang

2009). Some species belonging to the genus Cinnamomum, commonly

used as spices, contain many antibacterial compounds(Seyed

Nabavi,Arianna Di Lorenzo et al,,2015)

Ants

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is an

invasive species with potential global impact(Tracy Langkilde

200). The fire ant Solenopsis invicta is a significant pest that

was inadvertently introduced into the southern United States

almost a century ago and more recently into California and other
regions of the world(Marina Ascunce, Chin Cheng Yang et al,,

20111). The fire ant Solenopsis invicta is a significant pest

that was inadvertently introduced into the southern United

States almost a century ago and more recently into California

and other regions of the world(James Wetterer 2011). Management

of imported fire ant species has evolved since their accidental

introduction into the United States and currently uses

integrated pest management concepts to design, implement, and

evaluate suppression programs(Bastiaan Drees, Alejandro Calixto

et al,, 2012). Fire ants are well-known by their aggressive

stinging behavior, causing many stinging incidents of medical

importance(J. Proteome Res.2012). The tropical fire

ant Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) often nests very abundantly

in the earthen banks (bunds) around irrigated rice fields in the

tropics(MJ Way, K.L. Heong 2009). The major chemical components

in the venom of red imported fire ants, Solenopsis

invicta Buren, are 2-methyl-6-alkyl or alkenyl piperidines.

After isolating the extracts of poison glands and whole worker

bodies with column chromatography, we obtained fractions

containing a mixture of six piperideine alkaloids(J. Agric. Food

Chem.2009). The invasive fire ant Solenopsis invicta(Formicidae,

Hymenoptera) is a model system for understanding the dynamics of

invasive social insects and their biological control(Heather

Ishak et al,, 2011). Fire ants are stinging invasive ants from
South America that infest over 129.5 million hectares in the

southern United States, where eradication is no longer

considered possible(David Oi, Steven Valles 2009). Human

commerce has resulted in the spread of the imported fire

ants, Solenopsis species, worldwide(Li chen, Henry Fadamiro

2018).
 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A, Collection of Cinnamon

About 100-150 grams of cinnamon bark will be accumulated, only

fresh cinnamon will be collected. Furthermore, the cinnamon will

be rinse in hot water to be clean and dry it to prevent other

organic substances or liquids to be part of the extraction

process. If the cinnamon is still wet, dry it before the

extraction.

B. Procedure

Procedure The sum of 100 to 150 g of mashed cinnamon sticks was insert

ed into the distillation flask, which was connected via a glass tube t

o the steam generator and a condenser to extract the oil.The essential

oils have been volatilized for 5 and 10 hours with boiling water at 1

00 ° C temperature.

It was allowed to settle the recovered mixture and extract the oil.

The substance was collected and separated using separating funnel

afterthe steam distillation process. The essential oils settled down a

t the separating funnel's bottom layer and were removed several times

until no oil was left in the separating funnel.

 C.Collection of Ants

Place and add a jar container where there are many bees, then place th

e bait in your trap, whether it is sugar or water or other food. Make

sure the container is secure and is not going to fall over for hours a

t a time when left.The researcher will leave the container for a few d

ays after placing the bait in a container.Find a secluded place outsid

e for the container to be stored so that other animals are less likely

to disturb it. Leaving the bait for a couple of days would make sure

the ants flock to it. Gather for testing all the ants collected.

D. Experimentation

Using the Cinnamon bark extracts produced, spray it with ants into the

jar. To find out if cannamon bark can be used as repellent against an

ts, observe and spray all the extracts.

 Chapter IV

Results and Findings

Number of Process Outcome

experimentation

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3