Group 2

Lemon grass as termite killer

Introduction

Termites have the ability to seriously harm homes, buildings and wood structures. It’s one of the
insects that greatly affects a variety of appliances in a house, especially if it’s wood, because
wood serves as their food. Due to the effects of it in houses, a lot of people keep on finding an
insecticide that might kill termites.

In Talugtug, Nueva Ecija, most of the population is living in a wooden house, and every time
they are experiencing a lot of problems regarding how to stop the spread of termites in their
houses. However, most of the Talugtugeños are having a hard time finding a rigid product that
can kill the termites stuck on their houses.

In this study, the researcher copes with an idea on how to eliminate termites, something that is
cheaper than commercially available pesticides or anything that kills termites and always
available around us. Researchers thought of various things that could possibly kill termites, and
then they want to know if lemon grass (Cymbopogon Citratus) has the potential to become an
alternative termite killer because lemon grass contains high concentration of citral, a compound
known for its strong insecticidal properties. Studies have shown that citral disrupts the
neurotransmitters in insect, leading to paralysis and eventual death, this natural compound acts as
powerful repellent and toxic agent against termites, making lemon grass an attractive alternative
to traditional chemical- based termite treatments.
Review of Related Literature (RRL)

According to Med (2014) lemon grass essential oil was proven antifungal both liquid and vapor
phrases it is related in the researcher’s study which is lemon grass as termite killer because the
researchers vaporized the lemon grass to make the solution. And additional to this, Sandhyarami
(2018) stated that lemon grass essential oil is a potent as any commercial insecticide because it
contains citronella oil and geraniol that is effective against wide range of biting insects including
termites. G. Aso et. al (2020) mentioned that lemon grass can eliminate mosquito and other
insects because of the oil from the lemon grass stalk and the citronella in the lemon grass, these
studies is related to the researchers experiment because of the lemon grass that these researcher’s
material that they used, the result of these studies made the researchers to explore more about the
potential of lemon grass itself as a termite killer.

Observation

The researchers noticed that termites were destroying wood houses and other structures with
great

ferocity. As a result, researchers came up with a solution to get rid of termites. Something that is

eco- friendly and constantly present in our surroundings. The researchers considered a number of

idea that killed termites. Given that termites are a type of fungus, the researchers looked for

substances that might be able to kill termites. After reading about lemon grass, the researchers

discovered that it contains anti- fungal and anti-bacterial compounds.

Hypotheses

The researchers have 4 hypotheses

 Lemon grass is effective as termite killer

 Lemon grass in not effective as termite killer
 Group 1’s experiment is reliable and accurate
  Group 1’s experiment is not reliable and accurate

Variables

Independent Variable- The effectiveness of lemon grass as termite killer, because we cannot
control this, and it depends on the solution.

Dependent Variable- The termites that the researchers will use in the study. Once the researchers
conducted the experiment, they will observe the termite.

Controlled and Extraneous Variable- The temperature and weather, we will do the experiment on
the same day and same location to ensure its fairness.

How the researchers test their prediction/ making of experiment

Before conducting the experiment, the researchers seek help to their family members to find
termites, one of the researchers found the worker type termites which is the tiny white colored
termites, after finding the termites, the researchers chose he termites who have the same lively
condition.

The researchers conducted a series of trials to determine the effectiveness of lemon grass as a
termite killer. The researchers made the lemon grass solution by boiling 12 lemon grass leaves in
1 ½ cups of water boiling for 7 minutes, letting it cool for 20 minutes and transferring it in the
spray bottle.

The researchers then placed 10 termites in an open container and conducted three sets of
experiment, the first container will be sprayed 5 times 6 inches away, the second container is 10
sprays, and the third one is 15 sprays, then time it for 7 minutes. Researchers will now observe
how the solution will affect the termites.

The experiment was carried out on November 25, 2023 and is being tested today, December 5,
2023, the solution killed 0 termites.
On the second trial, the researchers made the solution on the same day and tested it in the same
day, the researchers tried in on the worker termites and the soldier termites, in the worker
termites it killed total of 12 worker termites in the three sets of the experiment in the span of 7
minutes, in the soldier termites, the researchers tried 10 sprays it only killed 1 termite in the span
of 7 minutes.

Data Gathered

The researchers gathered the data by observing the effect of the solution on the termites and on
their behaviors, In the first experiment the solution is made on November 25, 2023 and
conducted on December 5, 2023, it killed none, In the second trial using different kind of
termites in the worker termites is killed a total of 12 worker termites, in 10 sprays is killed 4 and
in 15 sprays it killed 8 worker termites, in the soldier termites the 10 sprays killed only 1. The
researchers observed that the termites are dying because they’re drowning in the solution, the
other termites’ behaviors are the same, no changes.

Number
8 of termites killed
7

0
5 sprays 10 sprays 15 sprays

1st Trial 2nd Trial 3rd Trial

Amount of Lemongrass solution sprayed

Conclusion
Therefore, the researchers conclude that the solution is not effective on killing termites proving
the 2nd and 4th hypotheses right, the termites is dying because they’re drowning and can’t get out
of the solution drops.

Recommendation

The research has provided valuable insights into the potential use of lemon grass as termite
killer. To strengthen the validity of the finding it is advisable to conduct another experiment or
add another variable such as serpentina who have a bitter taste and an awful smell. This will help
in refining the formulation for better effectiveness.

Further more to optimize the formulation, try testing lemon grass with another herbs, spices, or
essential oils that is known for killing and repelling termites, use various ratios of variables to
find the most effective combination.

Group 2

Leader: Thea Azeret Q. Benedicto

Members:

Julie Ann Roguian

Georgiena Nicole A. Kabigting

John Justine Carter P. Agustin

Aubrey D. Dela Cruz