No abstract

New Zealand flower thrips (NZFT Thrips obscuratus (Crawford)) were exposed to a range of ethyl formate (EF) and pyrethrumbased postharvest treatments on apricots Research showed that EFCO2 or EFN2 were effective treatments against NZFT and caused negligible damage to apricot fruit quality However pyrethrum dipping did not effectively control NZFT and caused significant internal damage to apricot fruit Lethal concentration (LC99) estimates were developed for adult and larval NZFT using a range of EF concentrations (0127 EFCO2) and temperatures (5 15 and 25C) It is estimated that treatments of 1 (307 g/m3) EF at 5 or 25C or a higher concentration of 15 (463 g/m3) at 15C will achieve 99 mortality of NZFT adults and larvae on apricot fruit with 95 confidence

Management practices that increase fruit SSC and sugar/acid ratio, such as reducing crop load, will improve consumer satisfaction as long as fruit are harvested at an adequate maturity stage and are maintained in storage so that they do not soften too quickly.

No abstract

Removal of pests on export fruit before packing using high pressure waterwashing is used commercially in New Zealand for apples and avocados and has the potential to be extended to other fruits and vegetables Mealybugs thrips and mites are intercepted on exported capsicums and the presence of species of quarantine importance results in methyl bromide fumigation which disrupts export reduces fruit quality and is costly The removal of mealybugs from naturally infested capsicums was measured after high pressure water washing at 50 75 100 125 150 175 or 200 psi and compared with results from an untreated control Before treatment capsicums had an average of 1237 live mealybugs per fruit At 3 days after high pressure waterwashing the numbers of live mealybugs on treated capsicums ranged from 38 to 118 per fruit resulting in 5885 reduction This compared with an average of 44 mealybugs on untreated capsicums at 3 days after treatment