Padma Vasudevan, a scientist from India's capital, Delhi, has
made an important discovery. Her team of researchers at the Indian
Institute of Technology, has found that peppermint oil chases away
mosquitoes. It can also kill the mosquito larvae (Larvae are the
wingless forms that hatch out of insect eggs). The best news of all is
that it is very effective against the Anopheles mosquito, which spreads
malaria.
The scientists did an interesting experiment. They first took out oil
from the peppermint plant called Mentha piperita. Then they poured some
of that oil on top of water that contained mosquito larvae. The next day
they found that the larvae had been killed. Several people decided to test the ability of the oil to chase away mosquitoes. They rubbed the oil on their bodies and slept out in the open. Eight out of 10 people said they did not have mosquitoes biting them.
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