Saturday, July 02, 2011

Cocoa beans infestation

Once they have been dried, cocoa beans are quite stable and will not deteriorate for several years, provided they are kept under good conditions. These should include an absence of the various insect pests that feed on cocoa beans. 

Cocoa beans may be infested with insects which have not penetrated the beans and whose presence is not revealed by the cut test which is employed for grading purposes. Such insects may subsequently enter beans or they may be involved in cross infestation of other shipments. 

Cocoa beans have to be fumigated more than once to control insects: irradiation could be applied at the terminal end before shipment. Care should be taken to avoid cocoa beans becoming infested in ships and stores from other commodities or with insects remaining from previous shipments. 

Properly prepared cocoa stored in clean, pest free areas will not become infested. Control measures need to be applied as required to the structure of the tore or ship. 

In store infestation can be minimized by good hygiene measures and when necessary the application of pest control. On the arrival at the factory, the beans are usually put through large fumigation chambers and treated with methyl bromide to ensure that no infested beans arrive in the production areas. 
Cocoa beans infestation
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