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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339892
Research Project: Methyl Bromide Replacement: Post-harvest Treatment of Perishable Commodities

Location: Crop Improvement and Protection Research

Title: Procedures of laboratory nitric oxide fumigation for pest control

Author
item Liu, Yong Biao
item YANG, XIANGBING - University Of California
item Masuda, Tiffany

Submitted to: Journal of Visualized Experiments
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2017
Publication Date: 11/27/2017
Citation: Liu, Y.-B., Yang, X., Masuda, T. 2017. Procedures of laboratory fumigation for pest control with nitric oxide gas. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 129:e56309. https://doi.org/10.3791/56309.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3791/56309

Interpretive Summary: Nitric oxide is a newly discovered fumigant for postharvest pest control. As nitric oxide reacts with oxygen spontaneously to produce nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide fumigation must be conducted under ultralow oxygen conditions to preserve integrity of nitric oxide and production of NO2 may also cause injuries to fresh commodities. This makes nitric oxide fumigation much more complex as compared with fumigation using other fumigants and can become challenging for other researchers to start nitric oxide fumigation research. In this publication in visual media, nitric oxide fumigation procedures are described and demonstrated to assist other researchers to start nitric oxide fumigation experiments. Specific technical challenges and solutions are also discussed and optimal nitric oxide fumigation protocols are recommended.

Technical Abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) is a newly discovered fumigant and has the potential to be a safe and effective alternative for postharvest pest control. As NO reacts with oxygen spontaneously to produce nitrogen dioxide, NO fumigation must be conducted under ultralow oxygen (ULO) atmosphere and therefore has complex procedures. For treatments of fresh fruit and vegetables, fumigation starts with purging of air in an airtight fumigation chamber with nitrogen to establish an ULO environment followed by injection of NO. The fumigation chamber is then kept at a specified temperature for a specified duration to complete a fumigation treatment. At the end of a fumigation treatment, the fumigation chamber may also need to be flushed with nitrogen to dilute NO prior to opening the chamber to ambient air to preventing the reaction between NO and O2 to produce NO2 which may damage delicate fresh products. In this publication, detailed procedures including residue analysis are provided to assist other researchers to conduct NO fumigation research for postharvest pest control.