Conventional and emergent sanitizers decreased Ectomyelois ceratoniae infestation and maintained quality of date palm after shelf-life

Hot water treatments combined with cold storage as a tool for Ectomyelois ceratoniae mortality and maintenance of Deglet Noor palm date quality

“…Dhouibi (2013) also showed 100% mortality of E. ceratoniae larvae using only CO 2 and freezing organic dates, and CO 2 plus phosphine for conventional treatments of dates. In contrast, other novel treatments such as chlorine, UV-C radiation, ozonated water and alkaline and neutral electrolyzed water only obtained between 8 and 15% of mortality (Jemni et al, 2014).…”

“…Nevertheless, dates are subjected to many diseases and pests that decrease their yield and deteriorate their quality around the world. Dates are very often affected by insect infestation from Coleopterans, Lepidopterans and Hymenopterans, as well as by pathogenic bacteria (such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus), and by several mold and yeast genera (Jemni et al, 2014). In North Africa, and especially in Tunisia and Algeria, one of the most economically important pest species is the carob moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller), which infests 20% of the harvestable crop annually, causing great economics losses (Dhouibi, 2013).…”

“…These include new techniques that are aimed for the avoidance of postharvest pests and diseases, as well as microbial contamination of dates, and to improve the quality of the product during the storage period. Traditional and new postharvest techniques that have been developed for date fruit include irradiation (Azelmat et al, 2006), microwave (Zouba et al, 2009;Abo-El-Saad et al, 2011), essential oils (Haouel et al, 2010), ozone (Abo-El-Saad et al, 2011;Jemni et al, 2014), vacuum and modified atmosphere packaging (Achour et al, 2003), heat treatments (Ben-Lalli et al, 2013), etc. There has been growing interest in the application of postharvest heat treatments for controlling pests, insects and microbial agents, as a secure and non-chemical method to control postharvest diseases (Lurie, 1998;Spadoni et al, 2013;Strano et al, 2014;Zhou et al, 2014).…”

The competitive advantage of the Tunisian palm date sector in the Mediterranean region

“…As already mentioned Tunisia has the highest market share and is the undisputed leader. Despite this strong appearance, there are structural weaknesses, including the disruption of its trading system and the inconsistent quality of the packaged product, as well as a high rate of product infestation (APIA, 2008;Jemni et al, 2014). This is noteworthy, given the importance of this sector in the Tunisian economy in terms of export incomes as dates represent the second flagship product after the olive oil (FAO, 2000).…”

A political economy approach to measuring EU food standard enforcement and their implications on agri-food trade.

“…Literature mentions the several possible causes such as the insufficient production material and techniques, the lack of research and marketing services, weak farming organizations, the irregularity of the trading system and the inconsistent quality of the packaged products, as well as a high rate of product infestation (APIA, 2008;Jemni et al, 2014).…”