Paper · 2021 · Bulletin of Entomological Research

Efficacy of different hermetic bag storage technologies against insect pests and aflatoxin incidence in stored maize grain

Kimondo Mutambuki; Paddy Likhayo

8
claims
18
verbatim quotes
30
citations
3
research areas
—
Not open access

Abstract

The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period. The six technologies used were: two ZeroFly® hermetic bag brands (laminated and non-laminated); Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bag; non-hermetic ZeroFly® bag; woven polypropylene (PP) bag containing maize grain treated with Actellic Gold® Dust (pirimiphos-methyl 1.6% + thiamethoxam 0.3%) and woven PP bag containing untreated grain. Each bag was filled with 50 kg maize grain and four replicates of each were set up. With the exception of the non-hermetic ZeroFly® bag, 50 live adults of the larger grain borer Prostephanus truncatus and of the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais, were introduced into all the bags. Insects were not introduced into the non-hermetic ZeroFly® bag to assess its effectiveness in repelling infestation from outside. Parameters recorded were gas composition (oxygen and carbon dioxide) levels inside the bags; weight of flour generated by insect feeding activities; grain moisture level; live adult insect counts; grain damage and weight loss; grain germination rate and aflatoxin level. At termination, the plastic liners of the hermetic bags were examined for perforations. Results show that oxygen depletion and carbon dioxide evolution were faster in ZeroFly® hermetic compared to PICS bags. Throughout the 36-week storage trial, grain damage remained below 4% and weight loss below 3% in all the treatments except in the untreated PP bags in which it increased to 81.1 and 25.5%, respectively. The hermetic PICS, ZeroFly® and Actellic Gold dust-treated PP bags maintained grain germination at 60%, which was lower than the initial 90%, while in untreated control, it reduced to 4.7%. The mean aflatoxin levels fluctuated between 0.39 and 3.56 parts per billion (ppb) during 24 weeks of storage in all the technologies tested, which is below the acceptable maximum level of 10 ppb in maize. Based on the evaluation results, it can be concluded that hermetic PICS and ZeroFly® bags and woven PP bag with Actellic Gold dust-treated grain effectively protected stored maize grain from insect attack and weight losses. Appropriate strategies and mechanisms for the effective and efficient adoption of hermetic storage bag technology at scale would contribute towards global food security.

Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗

The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.

Claims 8

Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Oxygen depletion and carbon dioxide evolution were faster in ZeroFly hermetic bags than in PICS bags.

Taxon
maizeZea mayse0
Treatment
ZeroFly® hermetice1
Outcome
oxygen depletion and carbon dioxide evolutione1
Direction
fastere1
Comparator
PICS bagse1

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Zea mays
Zea mays · TaxonAkwugo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 0–144 · show in text ↑
e1

“oxygen depletion and carbon dioxide evolution were faster in ZeroFly® hermetic compared to PICS bags”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1272–1372 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultnegativemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Grain damage increased to 81.1% in untreated PP bags, compared with all other treatments.

Taxon
maizeZea mayse0
Treatment
untreated PP bagse2
Interactor
Prostephanus truncatusProstephanus truncatuse1pest
Second interactor
Sitophilus zeamaisSitophilus zeamaise1pest
Outcome
grain damagee2
Direction
increasede2
Value
81.1e2
Comparator
all the treatmentse2

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Zea mays
Zea mays · TaxonAkwugo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Prostephanus truncatus
Prostephanus truncatus · InteractorSarah McCaffrey, Museum Victoria · CC BY 3.0 au · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Sitophilus zeamais
Sitophilus zeamais · Second interactorThis image was released by the Agricultural Research Service , the research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture , with the ID k3980-17 (next) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 0–144 · show in text ↑
e1

“50 live adults of the larger grain borer Prostephanus truncatus and of the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais, were introduced into all the bags”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 622–763 · show in text ↑
e2

“grain damage remained below 4% and weight loss below 3% in all the treatments except in the untreated PP bags in which it increased to 81.1 and 25.5%, respectively”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1412–1575 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultnegativemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Weight loss increased to 25.5% in untreated PP bags, compared with all other treatments.

Taxon
maizeZea mayse0
Treatment
untreated PP bagse2
Interactor
Prostephanus truncatusProstephanus truncatuse1pest
Second interactor
Sitophilus zeamaisSitophilus zeamaise1pest
Outcome
weight losse2
Direction
increasede2
Value
25.5%e2
Comparator
all the treatmentse2

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Zea mays
Zea mays · TaxonAkwugo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Prostephanus truncatus
Prostephanus truncatus · InteractorSarah McCaffrey, Museum Victoria · CC BY 3.0 au · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Sitophilus zeamais
Sitophilus zeamais · Second interactorThis image was released by the Agricultural Research Service , the research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture , with the ID k3980-17 (next) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 0–144 · show in text ↑
e1

“50 live adults of the larger grain borer Prostephanus truncatus and of the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais, were introduced into all the bags”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 622–763 · show in text ↑
e2

“grain damage remained below 4% and weight loss below 3% in all the treatments except in the untreated PP bags in which it increased to 81.1 and 25.5%, respectively”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1412–1575 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Grain damage remained below 4% in the other treatments, with weight loss below 3%.

Taxon
maizeZea mayse0
Outcome
grain damagee2
Value
below 4%e2
Qualifier
weight loss below 3% in all the treatments except in the untreated PP bagse2

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Zea mays
Zea mays · TaxonAkwugo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 0–144 · show in text ↑
e2

“grain damage remained below 4% and weight loss below 3% in all the treatments except in the untreated PP bags in which it increased to 81.1 and 25.5%, respectively”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1412–1575 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Hermetic PICS, ZeroFly and Actellic-treated PP bags kept grain germination at 60%, below the initial 90%.

Taxon
maizeZea mayse0
Treatment
hermetic PICS, ZeroFly® and Actellic Gold dust-treated PP bagse3
Outcome
grain germinatione3
Direction
maintainede3
Value
60%e3
Comparator
initial 90%e3

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Zea mays
Zea mays · TaxonAkwugo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 0–144 · show in text ↑
e3

“The hermetic PICS, ZeroFly® and Actellic Gold dust-treated PP bags maintained grain germination at 60%, which was lower than the initial 90%, while in untreated control, it reduced to 4.7%”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1577–1765 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultnegativemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Grain germination fell to 4.7% in the untreated control.

Taxon
maizeZea mayse0
Treatment
untreated controle3
Outcome
grain germinatione3
Value
4.7%e3

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Zea mays
Zea mays · TaxonAkwugo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 0–144 · show in text ↑
e3

“The hermetic PICS, ZeroFly® and Actellic Gold dust-treated PP bags maintained grain germination at 60%, which was lower than the initial 90%, while in untreated control, it reduced to 4.7%”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1577–1765 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Mean aflatoxin levels in stored maize stayed between 0.39 and 3.56 ppb, below the 10 ppb maximum.

Taxon
maizeZea mayse0
Outcome
mean aflatoxin levelse4
Value
0.39 and 3.56 parts per billion (ppb)e4
Qualifier
below the acceptable maximum level of 10 ppb in maizee4

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Zea mays
Zea mays · TaxonAkwugo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 0–144 · show in text ↑
e4

“The mean aflatoxin levels fluctuated between 0.39 and 3.56 parts per billion (ppb) during 24 weeks of storage in all the technologies tested, which is below the acceptable maximum level of 10 ppb in maize”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1767–1971 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectauthor interpretationoriginal resultpositivebasis n/a

Claim · model-written summary

The authors conclude that hermetic PICS and ZeroFly bags and Actellic-treated PP bags effectively protected stored maize from insect attack and weight loss.

Taxon
maizeZea mayse0
Treatment
hermetic PICS and ZeroFly® bags and woven PP bag with Actellic Gold dust-treated graine1
Outcome
insect attack and weight lossese1
Direction
effectively protectede1

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Zea mays
Zea mays · TaxonAkwugo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“The performance of six grain storage technologies for the control of insect pests in maize was evaluated over a 36-week (9-month) storage period”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 0–144 · show in text ↑
e1

“hermetic PICS and ZeroFly® bags and woven PP bag with Actellic Gold dust-treated grain effectively protected stored maize grain from insect attack and weight losses”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 2031–2195 · show in text ↑

poly(propylene) · growth · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results

3 papers: 2 positive, 1 negative or no effect

1 paper in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction

  1. negative
  2. positive
See all 3 papers →

poly(propylene) · Prostephanus truncatus · Zea mays (maize)Results agree

2 papers: 0 positive, 2 negative or no effect

1 paper in the same direction as this paper

  1. negative
See all 2 papers →

storage · growth · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results

62 papers: 41 positive, 21 negative or no effect

40 papers in the same direction as this paper · 20 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative

  1. no effect
  2. negative
  3. no effect

58 papers more in this group

See all 62 papers →

Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.