Impact of radiofrequency disinfestation on Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) in wheat flour and its influence on the functional characteristics of wheat flour

Abstract

Wheat flour is the ideal sustenance in food processing and the cornerstone of essential staple foods, universally. In the current lifestyle, people prefer sustenance that is ready to use and available on the market. In this context, storing wheat flour in a good environment and protecting it from external factors is a big challenge (Xu et al., 2018). The shelf-life of wheat flour is confined to few months because of insect infestation, due to contamination during packaging and climatic conditions that result in the outbreak of insects (Doblado-Maldonado et al., 2012). Even in the sealed pouches of wheat flour also, the presence of insects is inevitable due to a lack in post-harvest disinfestation technology. Pesticides are often used to avoid losses associated with infestation throughout the storage of wheat flour, contributing to the issue of pesticide tolerance in insects as well as residues in food products (Zhao et al., 2020). Therefore, an alternative method for disinfecting the insects in wheat flour needs to be explored.Novel electromagnetic wave techniques are enticing the researchers as they leave no toxic substances in the food product and for not inducing insect resistance (Patil et al., 2020). In recent history, radiofrequency (RF) disinfestation is an emerging technology to prevent food commodities from infestation during storage.Radiofrequency waves range from 1 to 300 MHz, whereas 13.56, 27.12, and 40.68 MHz are reserved for commercial, technological, and medical purposes, with a view to prevent possible interference with other spectrum users (Ozturk et al., 2017). In RF disinfestation, water molecules present in the insects are subjected to continuous friction with cell organelles which leads to disruption of cells that results in death. Thus, all phases of insects can be killed without

Radiofrequency heating: A novel thermal treatment on the quality of peanut during disinfestation of Caryedon serratus and its potential in reducing aflatoxin

“…Also, the mortality was highest at the lowest electrode height and conveyor speed because lowering the electrode spacing increases the electric field intensity in treated products (Jiao et al, 2014; Li et al, 2017) and lowering the conveyor speed increases the exposure time. Similar results of RF showing mortality against Tribolium castaneum were reported by Indumathi et al (2021). However, RF treatment of C. serratus has not been reported yet.…”

“…A generator with two flat-plate parallel rectangular electrodes and an applicator is part of the RF system. Based on the results of the preliminary study (Indumathi et al, 2021), three electrode heights of 180, 200, and 220 mm, and two conveyor speeds of 5 and 7.5 m/h were fixed for this study. The peanut samples were placed in Petri plates (200 × 30 mm) without lids and passed between the electrodes by means of a conveyor (Figure 1) and exposed to an alternating electric field with a high voltage (5 kV) at the fixed combinations of electrode height and conveyor speed.…”

Quality analysis of all‐purpose wheat flour pasteurized with radiofrequency‐assisted hot air heating

“…Saka et al (2021) evaluated the effect of RF processing on the sedimentation value, falling number, phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and farinograph and extensograph properties of white and whole wheat flours and found that the RF process did not cause a significant change in the physicochemical and rheological properties. (Indumathi et al, 2021) characterized the functional characteristics of RF‐treated whole wheat flour and found that the water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, emulsion capacity, emulsion stability, and viscosity of RF‐treated wheat flour was noted to be slightly higher than RF‐untreated wheat flour. The foaming capacity and stability of RF‐treated wheat flour was found to be impaired with RF treatment due to uncoiled structure of protein.…”