High-temperature forced-air quarantine treatments for fresh fruits infested by tephritid fruit flies.
Armstrong J. W.
Author Affiliation: USDA-ARS, PO Box 4459, Hilo, HI 96720, USA.
Acta Horticulturae : 449-451
Abstract : This paper was presented at a symposium on tropical fruit in international trade held in Hawaii on 4-9 June 1989. In an attempt to develop a method of treating tropical fruit consignments to kill any dipteran pests without harming the fruits, papaya [pawpaw] fruits were treated with forced hot air until the temperature at the fruit centres was 47.2°C (hotter than Ceratitis capitata, Dacus cucurbitae [Bactrocera cucurbitae] and D. dorsalis [B. dorsalis] eggs or larvae are able to survive) for 3.5-7.0 h at 40-60% relative humidity. Immediately following treatment, the fruits were cooled in water until fruit centre temperatures were 30°C or below. Pawpaws were not damaged by this treatment and no tephritids (of an estimated 50?000 eggs and 50?000 larvae) survived. In other experiments, it was established that atemoyas (Annona reticulata X A. cherimola), mangoes and pummelos (Citrus maxima) were undamaged by the treatment.