Disinfestation of stored corn using microwave energy.

Abstract

abstract This study was conducted to determine the mortality of two common insect species in stored dates usinga microwave oven operating at 2450 MHz. Adults of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and Oryzaephilussurinamensis (L.), and larvae of T. castaneum (15 days) were used to internally infest stored un-pitteddates and then subjected to microwave treatment at 180, 300, 600 or 800 W power for 20, 30 or 40 s.Complete mortality was achieved for adults of both insects and larvae of T. castaneum when the powerwas 800 W and the exposure time was 30 or 40 s. Mortality of T. castaneum larvae was also 100% whenthe powerand exposure time were600 Wand 40 s, respectively. The quality attributes of the microwave-treated dates (inwhich 100% mortality was achieved) were compared with untreated dates. Instrumentalevaluation of texture profiles revealed that microwave disinfestation did not affect hardness, adhesive-ness, springiness, cohesiveness and chewiness. Microwave disinfestation did not affect the sensory at-tributes or the surface color of date fruits. The moisture loss during microwave treatment was between1.0 and 1.5 percentage points. Further investigations are required to determine the capability ofmicrowave disinfestation for packed dates and other stored product insects and life stages. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.