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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #272237
Title: An improved system to assess insect tolerance to heated controlled atmosphere quarantine treatment

Author
item Neven, Lisa
item WANG, SHAOJIN - Washington State University
item TANG, JUMMING - Washington State University

Submitted to: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/4/2012
Publication Date: 4/10/2012
Citation: Neven, L.G., Wang, S., Tang, J. 2012. An improved system to assess insect tolerance to heated controlled atmosphere quarantine treatment. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 143:95-100.

Interpretive Summary: The presence or potential presence of insects in exported fresh fruits and vegetables has led to the imposing of quarantine restrictions requiring postharvest treatments to kill the objectionable pest. The development of postharvest quarantine treatments for fresh fruits and vegetables can be very expensive due to the cost of infesting, treating, and evaluating the treated insects in the commodity. Scientists at the USDA-ARS Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory and Washington State University Department of Biological Systems Engineering collaborated to construct a model system to rapidly develop quarantine treatments without the need to infest the commodity. This system used a computer controlled heating block and a computer operated controlled atmosphere generation system to treat insects in order to determine the most tolerant stage and the most tolerant species to the heated controlled atmosphere treatment. This system is an improvement over other published systems in that the reproducibility of the treatments is improved as well as increasing the number of insects treated in a short amount of time. This system can be used to develop heated controlled atmosphere treatments for a wide range of insects and commodities while keeping the cost of treatment development low.

Technical Abstract: The presence or potential presence of insects in exported fresh fruits and vegetables has led to the imposing of quarantine restrictions requiring postharvest treatments to kill the objectionable pest. The development of postharvest quarantine treatments for fresh fruits and vegetables can be very expensive due to the cost of infesting, treating, and evaluating the treated insects in the commodity. Scientists at the USDA-ARS Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory and Washington State University Department of Biological Systems Engineering collaborated to construct a model system to rapidly develop quarantine treatments without the need to infest the commodity. This system used a computer controlled heating block and a computer operated controlled atmosphere generation system to treat insects in order to determine the most tolerant stage and the most tolerant species to the heated controlled atmosphere treatment. This system is an improvement over other published systems in that the reproducibility of the treatments is improved as well as increasing the number of insects treated in a short amount of time. This system can be used to develop heated controlled atmosphere treatments for a wide range of insects and commodities while keeping the cost of treatment development low.