MICROENCAPSULATION OF HERBAL COMPOSITES FOR MOSQUITO REPELLENT FINISHES IN BAMBOO AND MODAL FABRICS

Abstract

Due to great demand for mosquito repellent textile materials, eco-friendly herbal microcapsules were prepared in the present research using curcuma aromatica, Camellia sinensis and Azadirachta indica at optimized conditions. The microcapsules were finished onto 100% bamboo and 100% organic modal fabrics. Optimization of microencapsulation process was carried out after determining the mosquito repellent activity of fabrics finished with three different concentrations of herbal capsules and three different shell materials by standard Excito-chamber method. Optimized microencapsulation was prepared using 3X herbal concentration and neem gum as shell materials. The optimized microcapsule finished fabrics showed increased mosquito repellent percentage. Maximum mosquito repellent percentage was observed for herbal extract (3X) and neem gum (3X) finished bamboo and modal fabrics against Anopheles stephensi mosquito (84% and 83% resp.). After 5th and 10th wash, the fabrics showed fair repellent properties (60% and 61%; 38% and 41% resp.). Microencapsulation method implied in this research was found to be a unique method for imparting the bioactive compounds of the herbal composite onto fabric materials permanently.