Vol. 10, Issue 5 (2021)

Author(s):
Reshma Minj, Irengbam Barun Mangang, Jaganmohan Rangarajan and Loganathan Manickam

Abstract:
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is one of the important spices in India. Turmeric have a yellow pigment. Curcumin has several therapeutic effects including antiviral, antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory used for treating a wide variety of diseases. Due to the antiviral property of turmeric, it could be a new treatment option being practiced to fight against the COVID-19. Insect infestation leads to quality deterioration and contamination with turmeric powder during processing, storage and marketing. Cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne is an important insect damaging turmeric and turmeric powder. Insect not only feed on the stored products, but they also contaminate the product through excretion, exuvae and the fragments of the dead insects, which are all undesirable at the commercial level. In addition to the damage caused by insects, infestations encourage the spread of fungal and bacterial diseases. A number of modern nonchemical methods have been found to be effective against insect pests. Microwave heating is a novel dielectric heating technique which can be adopted in postharvest disinfestation treatments for a wide range of agronomic products, and it is a feasible alternate to chemical disinfestation methods. Thus the objective of this study was to protect turmeric powder against egg stage of L. serricorne by using microwave treatments. This study found that microwave could be possible for achieving maximum mortality of egg with color retention of turmeric powder at different microwave power levels (350, 450, 550, and 650 W) with different intervals of time (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 minutes). The maximum mortality of the egg was observed at 550 for 10 mins. and 650W for 8 and 10 mins.