The Lethal Effects of Microwave Radiation on the Adults of Cowpea Seed Beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

پژوهش های حفاظت گیاهان ایران

Article 2, Volume 31, Issue 1 - Serial Number 35, March 2017, Pages 20-28   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/jpp.v31i1.38646

Authors

S. Saboori¹; G. Moravvej^{* 1}; H. Sadeghi Namaghi²; M. Mohebbi¹

¹Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

², Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

Introduction: The cowpea seed beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus F.) is one of the most injurious insects infesting a wide range of leguminous stored seeds such as Lens culinaris, Vigna radiata, Vicia faba and Vigna unguiculata (1). This insect also causes secondary infestation during pulse storage, and may cause total loss within three months. The bruchids can cause heavy losses in terms of both quantity and quality (4). Heavy infestations of bruchids can cause heating of commodity, which results in quality loss, and mould growth. Currently, the control strategies of stored product insect pests have exclusively relied upon application of fumigants and protectant synthetic insecticides. Chemical control of pests has led to insecticide residues in stored products and insecticide-resistant insect populations (3, 6). Therefore, there is a need for the ecologically benign methods to control cowpea weevil on chickpea. High temperature application has been used to satisfactorily disinfest stored commodities by various technologies. Microwave radiation is one of the most promising biorational pest management tools for farm stored grain and grain processing industries (29). Microwave is a type of electromagnetic energy that provides rapid heating. It appears that high temperatures in a short time period may be lethal to many stored product pests. The present study aimed to assess the lethal effects of microwave radiation on adults of cowpea seed beetle in stored pulses.
Materials and Methods: The population of C. maculatus was originally collected from Laboratory of Entomology at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. The cowpea weevils were reared on chickpea, in a growth chamber at temperature of 28 ± 2 ºC, relative humidity of 60 ± 5 % in the dark. Male and female beetles were treated separately with 2450 MHz at power levels of 90-900 W over a range of irradiation periods from 20 to 960 seconds. Corrected mortality data were subjected to two-way factorial analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in which the microwave power and insects’ sex were regarded as independent categorial factors and irradiation period as covariate using SPSS Version 16 software. Prior to the ANCOVA test, Levene's test for equality of variances was performed to examine the assumptions for ANCOVA. Moreover, at each radiation power, the values of median lethal time (LT50), i.e., microwave irradiation period needed for the death of 50% insect population, and 90% lethal time (LT90) with 95% confidence limits were estimated separately for male and female beetles by subjecting mortality data to the maximum likelihood program of probit regression analysis using POLO-PC software. This program has a provision for control mortality.
Results and Discussion: The results indicated that the mortality rates of both male and female adults increased as the exposure period and/or the power of radiation increased. When microwave power levels increased, the time elapsed to achieve maximum lethal effect decreased; this was implied by the results showing maximum mortality achievement in 960 and 80 seconds at 90 W and 900 W, respectively. Male beetles were more susceptible than females, but this difference was not significant based on the LT50 ratio. The LT50 values for the power levels between 90-900 W varied between 674.8 - 41.40 seconds for males and 741.5 - 47.2 seconds for females. The probit analysis showed that the slope values of mortality - exposure time regression lines were in the range of 3.23 - 5.51. According to the likelihood ratio test of parallelism, the slopes of probit mortality regressions differed significantly among various microwave power levels. However, further likelihood ratio test between the paired combinations concerned revealed that the slopes of probit mortality lines differed significantly only between those of 90 and 900W levels. The present results are in agreement with those of Singh et al. (2012) who worked on Callosobruchus chinensis (26). Also, Sadeghi Nasab et al (2004) working on the effect of microwave radiation on three stored product pests, found similar results (25).
Conclusion: The results from our study showed that microwave radiation has a potential to kill insects in stored beans. It was observed that at certain constant power levels, the mortality of beetles increased as the microwave exposure time elongated and vice-versa. Although this strategy can control insect population in stored beans in a short time whilst deserting no chemical residue on food products, the adverse effects of microwave radiation on nutritional quality of food products and seed germination should be investigated. Further research is also recommended to improve methodology for practical disinfection of stored pulses.

Keywords

Stored product Pests; Electromagnetic waves; Radiation; Mortality; LT50

References

1- Bagherizenouz E. 2007. Pests of Stored Products and Management to Maintain: Bioecology of Insects, Acari and Microorganism, Tehran. University of Tehran Press. 449 (In Persian).

2- Banaee T., Davoodikia M., Radu H. and Noori P. 1995. Agronomy of Pulse Crops, Tehran. Publications of the Ministry of Agriculture. 256 (In Persian).

3- Bell C. and Wilson S.M. 1995. Phosphine tolerance and resistance in Trogoderma granarium (Everts.) (Coleoptera: Dermestidae). Journal of Stored Products Research, 31:199-205.

4- Boateng B.A. and Kusi F. 2008. Toxicity of jatropha seed oil to Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) and its parasitoid, Dinarmus basalis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 4(8):945-951.

5- Chauhan Y.S. and Ghaffar M.A. 2002. Solar heating of seeds: a low cost method to control Bruchid (Callosobruchus spp.) attack during storage of pigeon pea. Journal of Stored Products Research, 38:87-91.

6- Daglish G.J. and Collins P.J. 1999. Improving the relevance of assays for phosphine resistance. p. 584-593. In: 7th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection. Beijing, China.

7- Das I., Kumar G. and Shah N.G. 2013. Microwave heating as an alternative quarantine method for disinfestation of stored food grains. International Journal of Food Science, 2013:1-13.

8- Finney D.L. 1971. Probit Analysis, Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

9- Janhang P., Krittigama N., Lücke W. and Vearasilp S. 2005. Using radio frequency heat treatment to control the insect Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) during storage in rice seed (Oryza sativa L.). p. 11-13. In: Conference on International Agricultural Research for Development. Stuttgart-Hohenheim.

10- Kells S.A., Mason L.J., Maier D.E. and Woloshuk C.P. 2001. Efficacy and fumigation characteristics of ozone in stored maize. Journal of Stored Products Research, 37:371-382.

11- Koocheki A. and Banayan Aval M. 1994. Agronomy of Pulse Crops, Mashhad. Iranian Students Book Agency. 236 (In Persian).

12- Locatelli D.D. and Traversa S. 1989. Microwave in the control of rice infestation. Italian Journal of Food Science, 2:53-62.

13- ModarresNajafabadi S. and Shayesteh N. 2004. Effect of low temperature (zero or below zero degrees Celsius) in Indian mealmoth survival. In: National Conference on the Application of Biological Materials and Efficient Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides in Agriculture. Tehran (in Persian).

14- Mohandass S., Arthur F.H., Zhu K.Y. and Throne J.E. 2007. Biology and management of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in stored products: a review. Journal of Stored Products Research, 43:302-311.

15- Nelson S.O. 1995. Assessment of RF and microwave electric energy for stored-grain insect control. p. 1-16. In: ASAE Annual International Meeting. Chicago, Illinois.

16- Noel M.G. and Rosario R.R.D. 1989. Changes in protein composition during germination of mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek. The Philippine Agriculturist, 72:271-277.

17- Novotny M., Skramlik J., Suhajda K. and Tichomirov V. 2013. Sterilization of biotic pests by microwave radiation. Procedia Engineering, 57:1094-1099.

18- Olsen R.G. 1982. Constant dose microwave irradiation of insect pupae. Radio Science, 17(5):145-148.

19- Ondracek J. and Brunnhofer V. 1984. Dielectric properties of insect tissues. General Physiology and Biophysics, 3:251-257.

20- Ponomaryova I.A., Oyarzabal L.N.R. and Sanchez E.R. 2010. Interaction of radio-frequency, high-strength electric fields with harmful insects. Journal of Microwave Power & Electromagnetic Energy, 43(4):17-27.

21- Rahman A. and Talukder A. 2006. Bioefficacy of some plant derivatives that protect grain against the pluses beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. Journal of Insect Science, 6:17-24.

22- Raja N., Albert S., Ignacimuthu S. and Dorn S. 2001. Effect of plant volatile oils in protecting stored cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers against Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) infestation. Journal of Stored Products Research, 37:127-132.

23- Rajapakse R. and Emden H.F.V. 1997. Potential of four vegetable oils and ten botanical powders for reducing infestation of cowpeas by Callosobruchus maculatus, C. chinensis and C. rhodesianus. Journal of Stored Products Research, 33(1):59-68.

24- Robertson J.L. and Preisler H.K. 1992. Pesticide Bioassays with Arthropods, Florida. CRC Press. 127.

25- Sadeghi Nasab F., Shayesteh N., Pourmirza A.A. and Ghobadi C. 2004. Effect of microwave with different powers and times on developmental stages of three species of stored product pests. Iranian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 35(2):493-498 (in Persian).

26- Singh R., Singh K. and Kotwaliwale N. 2012. Study on disinfestation of pulses using microwave technique. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 49(4):505-509.

27- Singh V.N. and Pandey N.D. 2001. Growth and development of Callosobruchus maculatus F. on different gram varieties. Indian Journal of Entomology, 63(2):182-185.

28- Šuhajda K. 2006. Rehabilitation of moist masonry structures - Use of rod antenna during microwave pre-drying of injection holes. PhD thesis. Brno.

29- Tang J., Mitcham E., Wing S. and Lurie S. 2007. Heat Treatment for Postharvest Pest Control: Theory and Practice, Cambridge. CAB International. 349.

30- Tapondjou L.A., Adler C., Bouda H. and Fontem D.A. 2002. Efficacy of powder and essential oil from Chenopodium ambrosioides leaves as post – harvest grain protectants against six stored product beetles. Journal of Stored Products Research, 38:398-402.

31- Vadivambal R., Deji O.F., Jayas D.S. and White N.D.G. 2010. Disinfestation of stored corn using microwave energy. Agriculture and Biology Journal of North America, 1(1):18-26.

32- Wang S., Monzon M., Johnson J.A., Mitcham E.J. and Tang J. 2007. Industrial-scale radio frequency treatments for insect control in walnuts 2: Insect mortality and product quality. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 45:247-253.

33- Wang S. and Tang J. 2001. Radio frequency and microwave alternative treatments for insect control in nuts: a review. Agricultural Engineering Journal, 10(3 & 4):105-120.