Abstract
Leguminous plant products have great nutritional and economic importance in the European
Union, which is reflected by its protein policy. These harvested yields are risked by
stored product pests, such as Acanthoscelides obtectus Say, which can cause up to 50–60%
loss in stored bean items. The bean weevil causes both quantitative and qualitative damage
to seeds. We aimed to map the qualitative damage of this devastating pest, which deteriorates
the nutritional content of bean kernels. Furthermore, our purpose was to determine
accurately the decrease in the volume and density alteration in beans caused by this important
stored product pest using CT-assisted imaging analysis. Our results showed that the
nutritional arrangement in damaged beans was caused by A. obtectus. The measured nutrient
content increment in damaged samples can be explained by the presence of extraneous
organic material which originates from perished specimens of the bruchin pest. This is
a negative phenomenon in bean items used as forage, because of the loss of valuable proteins
and rancidity in herbal oils. Weight loss triggered by developing larvae was 49.42% in
examined bean items. The use of 3D technologies has greatly improved and facilitated the
detailed investigation of injured seeds. The density (75,834 HU; 41.93%) and the volume
(296.162 mm3; 26.21%) values measured by CT of the examined samples were significantly
decreased. The decreasing of tissue density in damaged beans can be accounted for by the
consumption of starch present at a high ratio and that of the dense reserve components in
the cotyledons.
Go to article