Abstract
The dried fruit beetle (Carpophilus hemipterus) is considered a key pest of dates, infesting fruits both in the field and during storage. Control measures against the species rely on the use of chemicals or heat treatments based on sunlight, hot air or radio frequency (RF) applications. Previous investigations that have aimed to define control procedures for a total disinfestation using RF treatments with different exposure durations have shown the typical behavior of adults in some trials, which, under the influence of temperature increases, started to escape from infested fruits. We focused on the application of different RF voltage-time combinations to induce the emigration of C. hemipterus adults from dates in order to produce a complete disinfestation. The results showed that the application of 2500 V RF for 8–10 min to infested dates resulted in nearly 100% of adults escaping from fruits, thereby cleaning the commodity with low or no mortality inside and outside the dates. These achievements provide a new strategy for controlling key insect pests of dates that could be applied at an industrial scale, allowing for the quick disinfestation of fruits without affecting the fruit with harmful substances, such as residues from chemical treatments, and without unwanted side effects on date quality.
Highlights
Dates are available year round, though a large portion of consumption occurs in producing countries where these fruits are eaten as part of the normal diet, especially during the harvest season.Dates can be consumed fresh or dried, depending on the variety [1]
The determination coefficient (R2; p value < 0.05) value indicates that more than 90% of the variability in temperature increase could be due to the radio frequency (RF) irradiation
The findings demonstrate that low-energy RF treatments cause C. hemipterus adults to emigrate findings demonstrate that low-energy
Summary
Dates are available year round, though a large portion of consumption occurs in producing countries where these fruits are eaten as part of the normal diet, especially during the harvest season.Dates can be consumed fresh or dried, depending on the variety [1]. The most common sap beetle that infests dates in almost all producing countries is Carpophilus hemipterus (Linnaeus, 1758), a species with worldwide distribution that can feed on a variety of rotten fruits, and is considered a key pest of stone fruits in Australia [7]. This species is characterized by a noticeable tolerance to high temperatures, which allows its wider distribution in comparison to other sap beetles in Insects 2019, 10, 273; doi:10.3390/insects10090273 www.mdpi.com/journal/insects
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