Radio frequency treatment for postharvest disinfestation of dates

Disinfestation is a necessary step in the packing chain of dates for fresh consumption and exposure to radio frequency radiation allows to carry out this operation minimizing the effect on the organoleptic characteristics of the fruits. The authors in a previous work evaluated the possibility of using this treatment for the disinfestation of dates finding that the exposure time should be at least 6 minutes. These results were confirmed by the present work where dates of different varieties were irradiated for 6 min obtaining 100 % mortality of insects, without affecting the aspect of the treated dates. The trials were conducted on dates of Siwi variety, infested in the laboratory by adults of C. hemipterus and P. interpunctella, and of Deglet Nour variety, naturally infested in the place of origin. The results showed the efficacy of this method for controlling arthropod pests of dry fruits with no undesirable effect on fruit quality and can be considered for the future definition of a disinfestation protocol based on this technology