Phytosanitary Irradiation of Tephritid Fruit Flies

Tephritid fruit flies are the most important high-risk quarantine pests of fresh fruits and vegetables worldwide and a major impediment to trade and market access. Phytosanitary irradiation can control quarantine pests in fresh commodities and facilitate trade. The United States, Australia, and New Zealand have adopted generic doses of 150 Gy for tephritid fruit flies and 400 Gy for all other insects, except for Lepidopteran pupae and adults, on all hosts. The International Plant Protection Convention has also recommended a generic dose of 150 Gy for tephritid fruit flies. Tephritid fruit flies have been used as model insects to study questions about methodology in quarantine treatment development, including using natural versus artificial infestation, using laboratory versus wild strains of flies, and the effect of modified atmospheres on treatment efficacy. Several issues may present barriers to the wider use of phytosanitary irradiation including the labeling requirement, consumer perception, and the limited number of countries that have approved the use of irradiation for phytosanitary purposes. The availability of first-ever generic dose treatments against fruit flies and other insects makes irradiation an attractive option compared with other postharvest quarantine treatments and is driving the rapid expansion of this technology in certain countries.