Detection and protection of triticale seed from infestation in a storage system

The goal of this project was to develop improved methods for protecting triticale seed from infestation during storage. Triticale is the one of the most insect susceptible small grains during post-harvest storage, and serves as a model grain to test methods of insect control in seed storage. This was done through two main goals and one sub goal.;The first main goal was to protect triticale seed from infestation using drying methods. This done through finding the effects of three different drying temperatures and three different drying times on seed viability and insect mortality for different storage times. The results showed that total mortality occurred for 8% moisture content and that seed germination was not affected. Also, drying prevented a new generation of insects from emerging due to the low moisture content of the seed. The economic outcome of this research has the potential to significantly lower the cost by as much as 90% compared with chemical treatments for small grain seed storage currently used for insect control.;The second main goal, was to develop a method of identifying infestations by detecting and predicting the degree of infestation of triticale seed infested with rice weevils using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. The detection was for 11 degrees of infestation with six growth stages from egg to adult inside the seed. The data were analyzed using several methods such as stepwise multiple linear regression, exhaustive model and regression tree. The results led to the conclusion that the late growth stages could be detected more accurately than early infestation. The model that produced the lowest mean square differences was stepwise. A sub goal was to measure sorption isotherms curves for triticale and use the results to develop a method to dry triticale seed. A best fit equation was developed describing these relationships. The results showed that the modified Chung-Pfost equation represents this relationship most accurately.;Overall, this study showed great potential for using drying treatments and nearinfrared spectroscopy for protection and detection of the infested seed in the different growth stages of the rice weevil.