Egg mortality of insects during pasta making

Abstract: Egg mortality of Sitophilus oryzae (L.), Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val, Plodiainterpunctella (Hübner) and Lasioderma serricorne (F.) was tested in an experimental plant ofshort and long pasta. Eggs were mixed with semolina before starting pasta making (20 eggs/kgsemolina for Coleoptera and 300 eggs/kg semolina for Lepidoptera). The vitality and hatching ofeggs were verified in the laboratory. Ninety days following production, long pasta (spaghetti) andshort pasta (striped penne) were verified. In all tests, no infestation of pasta was observed. It isimpossible for the eggs of rice weevil, confused flour beetle, indian meal moth and cigarettebeetle to survive during mixing, extrusion and drying of pasta.