Bekonang Village, Mojolaban District, Sukoharjo Regency, On Wednesday, June 12, 2024, Gabriel Christoffel (UNDIP Field Study and Community Service) implemented a community empowerment work program, namely training on making mosquito spray from orange peel and lemongrass leaves. This program aims to utilize organic waste such as orange peels and lemongrass leaves as raw materials for making natural mosquito repellent. Beside providing health benefits, this innovation also contributes to environmental preservation.
Orange peel contains citronellal, citronellol, and geraniol, which are known to function as mosquito repellents. Meanwhile, lemongrass leaf extract contains citronella, a substance that can kill mosquitoes and ants. Citronella has toxic properties that can cause mosquitoes to die, as mosquitoes will continuously lose fluids, leading to dehydration. These two raw materials are the right choice for making natural mosquito spray, as they are not only cheap and easy to obtain, but also natural and chemical-free, making them safe for health and environmentally friendly.
This program was initiated by Gabriel Christoffel, a student of Industrial Chemical Engineering at Diponegoro University, with the aim of raising public awareness about the importance of maintaining health and the environment, as well as providing a cheaper and safer mosquito repellent alternative for the people of Bekonang Village. In the training held on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, from 10:00–11:30 WIB, which was attended by the community, especially elderly women from Dukuh Mojosari, Bekonang Village, at the Dukuh Mojosari elderly posyandu, Bekonang Village, participants were taught the steps for making natural mosquito spray from orange peels and lemongrass leaves.
According to WHO data, dengue fever remains a serious health problem in Indonesia. “By using natural mosquito repellent, we can help reduce the number of dengue fever cases,” said Gabriel, a student from the UNDIP Field and Community Studies program.
As for the steps in the process of making mosquito spray from orange peel and lemongrass, they are as follows: 1. Weigh approximately 1 ounce each of lemongrass and orange peel. 2. Wash and finely chop the orange peel and lemongrass. 3. Place the chopped orange peel and lemongrass into a blender. 4. Add 50 ml of clean water. 5. Blend until smooth. 6. Strain and collect the extract. 7. Dilute the orange peel and lemongrass extract in 100 ml of clean water. 8. Pour the solution into a spray bottle. 9. Ready-to-use natural mosquito repellent spray We hope that this program will provide significant benefits to the community of Bekonang village in creating a healthy environment free from dengue fever.