Assessment of the efficiency of application of ionising radiation for grain disinfestation
Loy N.N., Sanzharova N.I., Gulina S.N.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. V. 487. N.1. 012030.
The paper considers the results on the efficiency of application of ionising radiation for grain disinfestation. It is shown that gamma-irradiation of confused flour beetle (imago stage) inhabiting on the barley grain, in a dose range 0.7–1.0 kGy caused the 100% mortality of the pest in 15 days after irradiation at a dose rate 0.5 kGy/h. The similar occurred at doses 0.15–0.6 kGy and dose rate 1.8 kGy, and at the dose rate 0.1 kGy/h the total pest mortality occurred in 30 days after the irradiation. The use of the bremsstrahlung and electron radiation for treatment of barley contaminated with confused flour beetle allowed to establish that the mortality of 100% of the insect-pests occurs in 15 days after irradiation at all studied doses and dose rates in case of both radiation types, with exception of the dose 0.25 kGy (bremsstrahlung radiation), when the organisms perish in 30 days after irradiation. The use of gamma-irradiation for radiation disinfestation of grain affects its quality, which depends both on the radiation dose and the dose rate. It was found that the gamma-irradiation caused the increase of the ash content in the grain by 4–6% at doses 0.2–0.6 kGy (dose rate 0.1 kGy/h) and by 9–19.9% at doses 0.75–1.0 kGy (dose rate 1.8 kGy/h). The application of the bremsstrahlung and electron radiation within the investigated dose range had no significant effect on the quality of barley grain of Nur variety. The results obtained on the assessment of the sensitivity of insect-pests (Tribolium confusum Duv.) to the effects of different ionising radiation types indicate the prospects of the use of ionising radiation for grain disinfestation.