CA atmospheres for nursery uses, to avoid quarantine organisms

Insects, nematodes and mites that damage postharvest plant products can result in severe quality losses or trade restrictions in case of quarantine organisms. With the ban of the ozone depleting methyl bromide (MeBr), the most widely used chemical for phytosanitary treatment, effective and sustainable alternatives are needed. The physical method, Controlled Atmosphere Temperature Treatment (CATT) can be a sustainable alternative for the control of pest on living plant products. Heat treatments can results in 100% pest mortality, (e.g. ISPM 15), but heat can also damage fresh plant materials. Lowered respiration induced by extreme CA combined with increased metabolism induced by a mild Temperature Treatment can result in desired pest mortality without unacceptable loss of product quality. For development of CATT treatments for specific plant - pest combinations, the CATT parameters, such as exposure time, temperature, % O2/CO2 and humidity should be carefully optimised in order to get sufficient pest mortality yet keep plant quality acceptable. Until 2008 MeBr was used in The Netherlands for fumigation of strawberry runners, intended as planting stock, to make them free of infestation by strawberry mites (Phytonemus pallidus). A 48h CATT method was developed and scaled up by Wageningen UR in cooperation with grower organisations as an alternative of MeBr. Propagation companies are promoting the CATT treatment and two commercial treatment companies provide the CATT protocol as phytosanitary treatment of strawberry runners. In 2012 this CATT method was successfully modified to also eradicate root knot nematodes Meloidogyne hapla (>99.7% mortality), which was not effective with MeBr fumigation. On - going screening of CATT application for the control of pests (thrips, flies, moths, nematodes, leaf miners) on a range of plant products (fruits, vegetables, tubers, bulbs, flowers) show promising results. It also exist possibilities for development of on - site or in - transit CATT will be discussed. Original title, authors, and sourcesCONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE TEMPERATURE TREATMENT: NON CHEMICAL (QUARANTINE) PEST CONTROL IN FRESH PLANT PRODUCTSVerschoor, J.A.1(*), Qiu, Y.T.2, Otma, E.C.1, Kruistum, G.van2 and Hoek, J.2 jan.verschoor@wur.nl1 Wageningen University and Research, Food & Biobased Research (FBR), Wageningen, The Netherlands2 Wageningen University and Research , Applied Plant Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands CA MA 2013, XI International Controlled & Modified Atmosphere Research Conference, Trani (Italy), 3-7 June 2013La imagen es de variedadesplantafresa.com