High pressure waterwashing to remove pests from capsicums

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

Highpressurewashing to manage insect infestations on capsicums

“…Based on the findings of the present experiments, the pressure range of future HPW work should span 50, 75 and 100 psi and incorporate a hot water drench and fast drying conditions. Jamieson et al (2010) reported that HPW using pressures between 50 to 100 psi removed 60-80% of mealybugs from heavily infested capsicums that had a mean of 12-37 live mealybugs on before HPW. Table 1 The number and percentage of green peach aphid remaining and the proportion of fruit infested and location of aphids (expressed as % of total aphids found for each treatment) after using an experimental high-pressure washer or a commercial high-pressure washer.…”

“…Non-chemical postharvest disinfestation treatments are being sought and high-pressure water-washing (HPW) is one possible risk reduction option. Previous HPW trials with capsicums found a significant decrease in mealybug infestation after treatment (Jamieson et al 2010) and a decrease in postharvest disease, even under high pressure from fungal rots (O'Donoghue et al 2013).…”

“…This increases the likelihood the product line will move through the importing border. HPW has been effective at decreasing the number of surface pests on fruit, such as apples (Whiting et al 1998a), avocados (Jamieson et al 2000), kiwifruit (Whiting et al 1998b), pears (Hansen et al 2006) and capsicums (Jamieson et al 2010).…”

Prevalence of tomato potato psyllid (<i>Bactericera cockerelli</i> Sulc) on red capsicum fruit in choice and nochoice tests

“…However, the fumigant concentrations and exposure periods required to control eggs significantly reduced capsicum quality . High pressure washing (HPW) has also been shown to remove mealybugs and aphids artificially-infested on capsicums (Jamieson et al 2010;Page-Weir et al 2015). In general, in cases where an export commodity is not a preferred host for the pest, it is possible that a further disinfestation may not be required when the exports already meet or exceed the phytosanitary standard.…”

Apple washers removal of insect pests and contaminants from export apples

“…The apple sector introduced "Honiball™" type washers (originally manufactured in New Zealand by Fruit Handling Systems Ltd (now Compac™), but copied by many manufacturers) into packhouses primarily to remove mealybugs in the late 1990s . This washer uses multiple overhead manifolds to spray water directly on to the fruit on a rotating brush bed at pressures between 80 and 120 psi for 10-20 seconds (Jamieson et al 2010;Woolf et al 2015).…”