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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #347413
Research Project: Methyl Bromide Replacement: Post-harvest Treatment of Perishable Commodities

Location: Crop Improvement and Protection Research

Title: Nitric oxide fumigation for control of spotted wing drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in strawberries

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

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/2/2018
Publication Date: 4/3/2018
Citation: Yang, X., Liu, Y. 2018. Nitric oxide fumigation for control of spotted wing drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in strawberries. Journal of Economic Entomology. 111(3):1180-1184. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toy074.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toy074

Interpretive Summary: Spotted wing drosophila is a quarantine pest on exported fruit, such as strawberries to certain countries, and there is no effective treatment. A newly discovered fumigant, nitric oxide, was studied to determine its efficacy against the pest and effects on postharvest quality of strawberries. An 8-h fumigation treatment with 3% nitric oxide achieved complete control of eggs and larvae, and 98.8% mortality of pupae. A 16-h fumigation of strawberries with 3% nitric oxide had no negative effects on strawberry quality and reduced mold, indicating nitric oxide may have potential to preserve strawberry quality. The study demonstrated that nitric oxide fumigation has potential to be used for control of spotted wing drosophila on strawberries.

Technical Abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) fumigation was conducted to determine the efficacy for controlling spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), in strawberries and effects on postharvest quality of strawberries under ultralow oxygen at 2°C. Eight-hour fumigations with 1.0% and 3.0% NO were tested against different life stages of the insect to determine an effective treatment, and a 16-h fumigation was tested to determine impact on strawberry quality. Complete control of eggs and larvae in strawberries was achieved in an 8-h fumigation with 3.0% NO and the treatment achieved 98.8% mortality of pupae. The first and second instars were more susceptible to NO and were completely controlled with 1.0% NO fumigation. The 16-h fumigation with 3.0% NO had no negative impact on strawberry quality as there were no significant differences from the control in berry damage score. The NO fumigation, however, significantly reduced mold two weeks after fumigation, indicating that NO fumigation had potential to preserve the harvested strawberry quality. The results of this study demonstrated that NO fumigation is effective for control of SWD and safe to strawberries and, therefore, NO fumigation has potential to control SWD on harvested strawberries.