Low-pressure Treatment to Control Food-infesting Pests (Tribolium castaneum, Sitophilus granarius) using a Vacuum Packing Machine

Kucerova Z., Kýhos K., Aulický R., Stejskal V . (2013): Low-pressure treatment to control food-infesting pests (Tribolium castaneum, Sitophilus granarius) using a vacuum packing machine. Czech J. Food Sci., 31: 94–98. Since recently, the food industry has been faced with serious problems regarding pest-infested food commodities and deregistration of many chemical biocides by the EU Biocide Directive. These conditions have created an urgent need for a physical method of protecting food against pests. Therefore, a vacuum packing machine was used for laboratory testing of the effectiveness of vacuum packaging on the mortality of the red flour beetle ( Tribolium castaneum ) and granary weevil (Sitophilus granarius ) at different temperatures and exposure times. There were significant differences in the susceptibility to low pressure (vacuum) between the adult insects of both tested species: T. castaneum was ap proximately 10 times more susceptible to low pressure than S. granarius . A higher temperature significantly shortens the vacuum exposure time necessary to reach 100% mortality in the tested beetles under a constant low-pressure value (1 kPa). The lethal times (LT