Researchers have discovered how to use hot water treatment to meet market entry protocols for fruit fly disinfestation in Australian mangoes. Heat treatment is the internationally accepted protocol for market access, currently applied to mangoes through vapour heat technology. Adjunct industry fellow, and member of the Griffith Asia Institute (GAI), Peter Johnson developed the research design in collaboration with researchers from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). Two years of trials were undertaken at DPIRD’s Frank Wise Agricultural Research Institute in Kununurra, Western Australia.
The study, conducted on the commonly exported variety R2E2 and new variety NMBP-4069, found that the fruit responded well to hot water treatment when preconditioned to ambient shed temperatures. “The trials examined two preconditioning treatments of 6 and 24 hours, followed by hot water treatment at the protocol standards,” Johnson said. “NMBP-4069 proved to be the more versatile variety, but R2E2 also performed well under certain conditions. The high ambient temperatures in Kununurra during fruit development are likely to be a contributing factor.”
Source: news.griffith.edu.au