Repellent and acaricidal activity of essential oils and their components against Rhipicephalus ticks in cattle

Ticks, particularly the Rhipicephalus which are the most prevalent and invasive affect 80 % of the cattle population worldwide. Through transmission of pathogens, tick worry and physical damage to the hides, ticks cause economic loss of billions of dollars each year with 1 billion US dollars loss per annum reported only in Latin-America. These losses can be minimized only by successful management of Rhipicephalus ticks. Various strategies like chemical control, vaccination and biological control are aimed at control of Rhipicephalus ticks. There are some serious limitations associated with them like tick resistance, drug toxicity, antigenic variations etc. In contrast to these issues related with chemical tick control, the botanicals particularly the essential oils obtained from aromatic plants of medicinal importance are eco-friendly and non-toxic to most host. In recent years, essential oils-based control of cattle ticks has gained considerable attraction of scientists all over the world as depicted from this review. A comprehensive effort has been made to critically analyze the role of essential oils in controlling Rhipicephalus ticks with particular emphasis on the mode of action of bioactive compounds both as repellents and acaricides. Furthermore, we have pointed out the most important challenges which need to be addressed for development and commercialization of an essential oil based anti-tick product.