Effect of Packaging Materials on Insect Mortality and Aflatoxin Contamination in Stored Maize under Different Conditions

Abstract

Postharvest losses in stored maize is alarmingly huge due to destructive storage pests. The main objective of this study was, therefore, to evaluate the effectiveness of different packaging materials for the protection of stored maize against infestation by maize weevils under different storage conditions. A 2×2×2 factorial experiment in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications was used. Obaatanpa maize variety was packaged in triple-layer hermetic and standard woven polypropylene bags. Half of each treatment samples were then artificially infested with 20 live Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) and the other half with 20 live Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) before being stored under ambient (28.5°C, 73.53%RH) and simulated hot (37.7°C, 48.64%RH) environment for 6 months. From the results, the triple layer hermetic bags could significantly (p≤0.01) lower population growth and greatly increase mortality of P. truncatus and S. zeamais during storage than woven polypropylene. Under both ambient and simulated hot storage environment, aflatoxin count was significantly (p≤0.01) worse in woven polypropylene packaging (16.39%) than in the triple layer hermetic bags (3%). The P. truncatus was found to be more destructive (26.26%) than S. zeamais (14.03%). It can be concluded that Triple layer packaging bags could be used for maize storage in both ambient and hot storage environment, protecting it against insect infestation, aflatoxin infestation and maintaining the quality of maize without the need for insecticide use.