Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #336076
Research Project: Detection, Control and Area-wide Management of Fruit Flies and Other Quarantine Pests of Tropical/Subtropical Crops

Location: Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research

Title: Food irradiation for phytosanitary and quarantine treatment

Author
item ROBERTS, PETER - Consultant
item Follett, Peter

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/5/2017
Publication Date: 1/18/2018
Citation: Roberts, P., Follett, P.A. 2018. Food irradiation for phytosanitary and quarantine treatment. In: Ferreira, I., Antonio, A.L., Cabo Verde, S., editors. Food Irradiation Technologies: Concepts, Applications and Outcomes. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 169-182.

Interpretive Summary: Irradiation offers a cost-competitive, non-chemical alternative to other phytosanitary measures and can be used to decrease dependence on fumigation with the ozone depleting gas methyl bromide. In 2015, irradiated fresh produce traded between countries topped 20,000 tonnes traded in 2015. The U.S. and New Zealand are the main importing countries and main exporting countries are Mexico, Vietnam, Australia, Thailand and India. Many different irradiated fruits are traded with guava, mango, sweet potato and dragon fruit pre-dominant. The paper discusses solutions to issues that would further assist growth in international trade, but the overall advantages of irradiation indicate that it should be seen as a phytosanitary treatment of choice in the future.

Technical Abstract: Irradiation at doses less than 1 kGy is an effective phytosanitary measure with minimal adverse effects on the quality of most fresh produce. There are internationally recognized guidelines for the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary measure and for the conduct of trade in irradiated fresh produce. A generic dose of 150 Gy is internationally recognized as sufficient to ensure the sterility or inability to reproduce of all fruit flies of the family Tephritidae on all hosts. Irradiation offers a cost-competitive, non-chemical alternative to other phytosanitary measures and can be used to decrease dependence on fumigation with methyl bromide, an ozone depleting gas. In the last decade trade in irradiated fresh produce has increased steadily with over 20,000 tonnes traded in 2015. The U.S. and New Zealand are the main importing countries and main exporting countries are Mexico, Vietnam, Australia, Thailand and India. Many different irradiated fruits are traded with guava, mango, sweet potato and dragon fruit pre-dominant. The paper discusses solutions to issues that would further assist growth in international trade but the overall advantages of irradiation indicate that it should be seen as a phytosanitary treatment of choice in the future.