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As the day wanes and twilight approaches, I'm about to grill up some chicken and corn seasoned with my new "Lime Light" flavored salt - a blend of unrefined sea salts, white and pink peppercorns, paprkia, chili powder & parsley, accompanied by the essential oils of lime zest and thai lime leaves .. add a salad and we have supper time numminess!
"Catnip Repels Mosquitoes More Effectively Than DEET"
CHICAGO, August 27, 2001 — Researchers report that nepetalactone, the essential oil in catnip that gives the plant its characteristic odor, is about ten times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET — the compound used in most commercial insect repellents.The finding was reported today at the 222nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, by the same Iowa State University research group that two years ago discovered that catnip also repels cockroaches.
Entomologist Chris Peterson, Ph.D., with Joel Coats, Ph.D., chair of the university’s entomology department, led the effort to test catnip’s ability to repel mosquitoes. Peterson, a former post-doctoral research associate at the school, is now with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Wood Products Insects Research Unit, in Starkville, Miss.While they used so-called yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) — one of several species of mosquitoes found in the United States — Peterson says catnip should work against all types of mosquitoes.
Aedes aegypti, which can carry the yellow fever virus from one host to another, is found in most parts of the United States. Yellow fever itself, however, only occurs in Africa and South America, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Vaccines and mosquito control programs have essentially wiped out the disease in the United States, although there have been isolated reports of unvaccinated travelers returning with the disease. The last reported outbreak in this country was in 1905.Peterson put groups of 20 mosquitoes in a two-foot glass tube, half of which was treated with nepetalactone. After 10 minutes, only an average of 20 percent — about four mosquitoes — remained on the side of the tube treated with a high dose (1.0 percent) of the oil. In the low-dose test (0.1 percent) with nepetalactone, an average of 25 percent — five mosquitoes — stayed on the treated side. The same tests with DEET (diethyl-m-toluamide) resulted in approximately 40 percent to 45 percent — eight-nine mosquitoes — remaining on the treated side.
In the laboratory, repellency is measured on a scale ranging from +100 percent, considered highly repellent, to –100 percent, considered a strong attractant. A compound with a +100 percent repellency rating would repel all mosquitoes, while –100 percent would attract them all.Peterson says nepetalactone is about 10 times more effective than DEET because it takes about one-tenth as much nepetalactone as DEET to have the same effect.
Most commercial insect repellents contain about 5 percent to 25 percent DEET. Presumably, much less catnip oil would be needed in a formulation to have the same level of repellency as a DEET-based repellent.Why catnip repels mosquitoes is still a mystery, says Peterson. “It might simply be acting as an irritant or they don’t like the smell. But nobody really knows why insect repellents work.”
No animal or human tests are yet scheduled for nepetalactone, although Peterson is hopeful that will take place in the future.If subsequent testing shows nepetalactone is safe for people, Peterson thinks it would not be too difficult to commercialize it as an insect repellent. Extracting nepetalactone oil from catnip is fairly easily, he says. “Any high school science lab would have the equipment to distill this, and on the industrial scale it’s quite easy.”
Catnip is a perennial herb belonging to the mint family and grows wild in most parts of the United States, although it also is cultivated for commercial use. Catnip is native to Europe and was introduced to this country in the late 18th century. It is primarily known for the stimulating effect it has on cats, although some people use the leaves in tea, as a meat tenderizer and even as a folk treatment for fevers, colds, cramps and migraines.A patent application for the use of catnip compounds as insect repellents was submitted last year by the Iowa State University Research Foundation. Funding for the research was from the Iowa Agriculture Experiment Station.
Chris Peterson, Ph.D., is a former post-doctoral research associate at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and is now a Research Entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Wood Products Insect Research Service, in Starkville, Miss.Joel R. Coats, Ph.D., is professor of entomology and toxicology and Chair of the Department of Entomology at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa."
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by The American Chemical Society for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please credit The American Chemical Society as the original source.
Researchers Dr Lindsey Gaunt and Sabrina Higgins from the University of Southampton have found that adding essential oils, such as eucalyptus, orange, litsea and thyme to candles can destroy bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (staph) on surfaces. The findings that adding essential oils to candles could be as effective as scrubbing with disinfectants were unveiled at the sixth joint symposium of the International Electrostatics Society of Japan and the Electrostatics Society of America conference in Tokyo (Nov 7-10, 2004).
The scientists used essential oils of orange, palmarosa, may chang, thyme, and an element of tea tree oil called beta-pinene, which when dispersed into the air and combined with the ions produced in the candle flame, all have a powerful bactericidal effect.
This unique combination of essential oils and electrical ions has demonstrated a remarkably powerful bactericidal action, with up to nearly 100 per cent bacteria kill.
For comparison, the researchers also tested plain wax candles without essential oils and evaporated essential oils in water on a hot plate. In contrast with the essential oil containing candles, the plain wax candle had no effect on bacteria, and vapor created by the essential oil alone also had little to no impact on the surface bacteria.
The candle flame and essential oil components appear to work together for a sterilizing effect, say the researchers. The researchers believe that the oils react with ions in the wick and with oxygen to take on anti-bacterial properties.
They said adding these essential oils to candles could help people to easily and conveniently kill bacteria lurking in their homes.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of South Hampton for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to see the news releases see The University of South Hampton as the original source.
21 Dec, 2004 - According to research carried out at The University of Manchester, essential oils have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria.
Researchers tested 40 essential oils against ten of the most deadly bacteria and fungi. Three essential oils (which have not been disclosed) used in the tests killed MRSA and E. coli as well as many other bacteria and fungi within just two minutes of contact. Two of these oils killed MRSA and E. coli almost instantly, while a third was shown to act over a longer period of time, meaning that any soaps or shampoos made with a blend of these three oils would be effective over a period of time.
As aromatherapists and natural toiletry makers well know, the oils can easily be blended and made into items such as soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc ... which could be used by hospital staff, doctors and patients alike in an effort to eradicate the spread of these deadly `super bugs', which are becoming increasingly resistant to conventional means.
Jacqui Stringer who is Clinical Lead of Complementary Therapies at the Christie Hospital instigated the research. Jacqui works with leukemia patients at the Christie Hospital using essential oils to help in their treatment. Patients receiving treatment for cancer and leukemia are often left with weakened immune systems which makes them vulnerable to infection from MRSA. 'The reason essential oils are so effective is because they are made up of a complex mixture of chemical compounds which the MRSA and other super bug bacteria finds difficult to resist. The problem with current treatments is that they are made of single compounds which MRSA relatively quickly becomes resistant to, so treatment is only successful in around 50% of cases.'
'While a wide range of products currently exist to help prevent the spread of MRSA these are often unpleasant for patients as their application can cause skin irritation. MRSA is often carried inside the nose which means that patients often have to insert treatments up their nostrils, whereas these essential oils can simply be inhaled to prevent the patient being at risk,' added Jacqui.
Researchers are now desperately looking for funding to develop their work and carry out a clinical trial. Peter Warn from the University's Faculty of Medicine who worked on the research said: 'We believe that our discovery could revolutionise the fight to combat MRSA and other `super bugs', but we need to carry out a trial and to do that we need a small amount of funding ' around £30,000.
'We are having problems finding this funding because essential oils cannot be patented as they are naturally occurring, so few drug companies are interested in our work as they do not see it as commercially viable. Obviously, we find this very frustrating as we believe our findings could help to stamp out MRSA and save lives,' added Peter, who is based at Hope Hospital.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by The University of Manchester for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to see the news releases see The University of Manchester as the original source.
In the ancient artisan soap making center of Aleppo the sabuncu's special is traditionally prepared from a combination of olive and bay oils; lovely gifts from trees which have graced Mediterranean region with their bounty for thousands of years.
Hi I`m Chris`s friend`s daughter, Bria. I am 12 yrs old and i love to txt. thts y most of my stuff below will b in txt. It is 2010 and i am writing about Rosemary. we grow Rosemary in the front yard. Its easy to grow, u don't need to do much. water it, and give it sunlight, see not much. Basically its a small-ish plant that smells like lemony vick`s rub, like if u bustd open a freshly peeled lemon with vicks. smell it but b sure not to get it too close to yr eyes bc it hurts rlly bad. Rosemary rlly smells tht fresh, may b even a lil fresher. its small and green, and if u cook chances r u have cooked something with Rosemary. well tht concludes our blog for today. have a great friday.
I have found that lemongrass essential oil truly captures the aromatic character of the actual plant.
This is the diaper ointment I made for my sons when they were that age. I hope it keeps your baby's bottom as happy as it did my cloth diapered boys'.
Tea Tree oil is steam distilled from the leaves of
It has properties of being antiseptic, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. There are quite a few scientific studies that back up the claims of tea tree oil being effective at fighting a variety of infections. Many folks use Tea Tree oil for many reasons, including acne, dandruff, toe nail fungus, athlete’s foot, insect bites, scrapes, etc .. I also use it in house cleaning formulas.
Contrary to what some say, be sure to always dilute Tea Tree oil properly before applying it to the skin! When it comes to using essential oils, especially on the skin, less is more and always diluting your essential oils is a smart practice and safer choice than using them "neat" (which means undiluted)! Commonly available carriers are sweet almond oil, fractionated coconut oil, olive oil & jojoba.
