Home › Cell Biology › Procedures of Laboratory Fumigation for Pest Control with Nitric Oxide Gas
Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Procedures of Laboratory Fumigation for Pest Control with Nitric Oxide Gas

DOI: 10.3791/56309-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Set up and operate nitric oxide fumigation chambers at small and large scales
  • ✓ Establish ultralow oxygen conditions and safely inject/remove NO gas
  • ✓ Perform residue analysis post-fumigation to verify pest control efficacy
Protocol

This paper describes nitric oxide (NO) fumigation protocols for postharvest pest control. Fumigation chambers are flushed with nitrogen (N2) to establish ultralow oxygen conditions before NO is injected. At the end, chambers are flushed with N2 to dilute NO before exposing products to ambient air to prevent exposure to NO2.

Difficulty
intermediate
Total time
~4-6 hours per fumigation cycle (including chamber setup, gas injection, flushing, and residue analysis)
Biosafety
BSL-1

Steps

1
Perform small-scale nitric oxide fumigation

Flush fumigation chamber with nitrogen gas to establish ultralow oxygen conditions, inject nitric oxide, maintain exposure time, then flush with nitrogen to dilute NO before ambient air exposure.

▶ 00:47
2
Perform large-scale nitric oxide fumigation

Scale fumigation protocol to larger chambers following the same nitrogen flushing, NO injection, and dilution sequence as small-scale procedures.

▶ 03:07
3
Conduct residue analysis on fumigated produce

Analyze treated produce samples to detect and quantify residual nitric oxide or nitrogen oxide compounds remaining post-fumigation.

▶ 04:46
4
Assess fumigation results with treated produce

Evaluate pest control outcomes and product quality from samples exposed to 2.0% nitric oxide fumigation treatment.

▶ 06:44
💬 Comments coming soon