Nutritional Value of Fortified Cassava Flour Prepared by Application of Fermented Bean Containing PGA

Abstract

Maize weevils (Sitophilus zeamais) can cause large losses in maize stored by smallholder farmers. Physical disturbance (tumbling) has been shown to be effective in controlling bean weevils in common beans, but we found no reports describing this approach for maize weevils. The objective was to determine effectiveness of storage container physical disturbance for maize weevil control. We conducted a laboratory experiment with two treatments: control (undisturbed) containers and disturbed containers, with three replications of each, and four storage times (40, 80, 120 and 160 days). Recycled 2.6-L capacity plastic coffee containers were each loaded with 1 kg of maize and 25 live adult weevils/kg. Every 12 h, disturbed treatment containers were manually rolled through one circumference of the 15.6-cm container. At 40 d, live weevil numbers were significantly lower (ca. 46% lower) in the disturbed containers, and after 160 d, live weevil numbers had been reduced by 93% compared to control containers. Maize moisture did not vary significantly between treatments. Disturbed containers had significantly lower mechanical damage and broken corn and foreign material along with significantly higher test weights. This work suggests that physical disturbance may be effective for control of maize weevils in stored maize.