Ainin Sofia Binti Md Yusri, Qurratu’ain Zakirah Binti Noor Hisham, Nur Hafizah Hasan and Marina Mohd. Top @ Mohd. Tah
Keywords: Annona muricata, Rattus rattus, pest control, plant based deterrent, animal behavior.
Abstract: Annona muricota (soursop) can be used as a deterrent to avoid pest species like Rattus rattus (house rat). Rattus rattus is a common pest animal that lives alongside with humans. Rattus sp.has continuously been a problem for human as they are the vectors for many diseases and can also cause many instrumental damages. Annona muricata has been used for deterrent purposes in two different physical states, which are fresh leaves, and as agar made from blending A. muricata leaves. Rattus rattus was released into a Y-maze to study their behaviour towards the deterrent. This finding has proved that blended A. muricata leaves in agar are more efficient in repelling R. rattus compared to fresh leaves. This is due to the strong and faulty odor emitted by the agar. In comparison of agar and fresh leaves of A. muricata, agar shows significant difference in efficacy of rendering R. rattus. This finding determines that the best product in repelling R. rattus is blended A. muricata leaves in agar.