Premium
Methyl benzoate fumigation for control of post‐harvest pests and its effects on apple quality
Author(s) -
Yang Xiangbing,
Liu YongBiao,
Feng Yan,
Zhang Aijun
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1439-0418
pISSN - 0931-2048
DOI - 10.1111/jen.12723
Subject(s) - fumigation , biology , horticulture , aphid , pest analysis , western flower thrips , toxicology , agronomy , bulb , pest control , botany , thripidae
Methyl benzoate is a newly discovered natural insecticide. In this study, we evaluated methyl benzoate as a potential fumigant for controlling four pests including western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis , lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri , rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae , and bulb mites, Rhizoglyphus spp., at different temperatures and effects on post‐harvest quality of apples. Methyl benzoate fumigations were effective against all four pests. Complete control of WFT and lettuce aphid was both achieved in 8, 16 and 24 hr at 25, 13 and 2°C, respectively. For rice weevil, complete control was achieved in 16 and 72 hr with and without rice at 25°C, respectively. Complete control of bulb mites was achieved in 64 hr at 25°C on peanut. In addition, a 24 hr methyl benzoate fumigation at 2°C had complete control of WFT but had no negative impact on visual quality of apples of three varieties 4 weeks after fumigation. These results suggest that methyl benzoate fumigation has potential to be an alternative treatment to methyl bromide fumigation, which has been phased out, for post‐harvest pest control for stored products and may also have potential to control other pests on fresh products.