Control of stored product insects with high-pressure carbon dioxide treatments

Abstract: The test was carried out in a test-autoclave reproducing in small-scale the exact process conditions of industrial plants. Different treatments of 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes exposure to a 20 bar carbon dioxide were performed on dried legumes, wrapped in typical industrial packaging materials. The effect on six species of Coleoptera and two species of Lepidoptera included in the packaging at different developmental stages (adults, pupae, larvae and eggs) was investigated. As a result, the 100% of mortality for Bruchus lentis was observed after 90 minutes, but an exposure of 120 minutes was necessary to achieve the complete control of Callosobruchus maculatus. In all other situations 100% of mortality was reached after 60 minutes in all tested packaging.