Disinfestation of kiwifruit using cold storage as a quarantine treatment for Mediterranean fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann)

Kiwifruit ( Actinidia deliciosa ) hold their quality extremely well in cold storage which makes cold treatments to achieve quarantine levels of disinfestation a viable alternative to current methyl bromide fumigation for export purposes. A series of trials, first using standard bioassay procedures and subsequently large‐scale export simulations, were conducted at 0 and 1°C against the Mediterranean fruit fly. The results demonstrated that the exposure periods required to achieve 99.9968% (probit 9) mortality were obtained in 12 days at 0°C and in 14 days at 1°C.