Successful disinfestations of sap-beetle contaminations from organically grown dates using heat treatment: A case study

• Published in: Phytoparasitica Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 204 - 212
• Main Authors: Rafaeli, A., Kostukovsky, M., Carmeli, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Nature B.V 01.04.2006
• Subjects: Coleoptera; Heat treating; Heat treatment; Insects; Nitidulidae; Parasites; Pest control; Quality control
• ISSN: 0334-2123; 1876-7184
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02981321

Palm dates suffer from high infestations of sap-beetle (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) populations. Organically grown dates are particularly subject to high infestations for lack of alternative treatments both during pre- and postharvest, while export requirements of null infestations are in effect. Present methods of postharvest control include treatments using CO^sub 2^, which are expensive and require several hours. In this report we describe an effective, short-duration and inexpensive method of postharvest heat-treatment using a postharvest heating container (PHHC). Laboratory experiments determined the optimum temperature regime for maximum escape of beetles from the fruit to be 55°C for 2.5 h; this temperature was attained at a rate of 1.8°C/min. Subsequent successful disinfestation of beetles was obtained in the PHHC after a total exposure time of 2.5 h. Sampling dates before and after treatment and quality control tests on cartons ready for export showed that this method compared in efficiency with CO^sub 2^ treatments but was much more economical.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]