Impact of Infestation of Flour by Stored Food Pest Insects Ephestia Kuehniella on Quality Flour: Physico-Chemical Analyses

The primary reason for significant post-harvest losses globally stems from the infestation of insect pests. These beetles, as they progress through their life cycle, lead to the deterioration of stored food, capable of decimating an entire inventory within a remarkably brief timeframe. Quality control is a system that monitors product quality, assuring and detecting any spoilage of a product, the impact of infestation of flour by pairs of stored food pest insects E. kuehniella on quality flour was evaluated by physicochemical analyses over time. Provoked exposure of 200 g of flour to 5, 10, and 20 couples of Ephestia keuhniella under experimental conditions was carried out and a series of analyses allowed us to highlight the qualitative and quantitative parameters of flour have been made. These physicochemical analyses were carried out after 1, 2, and 3 months of exposure to the different number of pairs of the pest where the following parameters were evaluated: Particle size, protein level, gluten content, sedimentation index, and water contents. The results obtained showed a high deterioration of the quality of the flour which results in a highly significant decrease in the protein content and the gluten rate. Concerning the humidity and the granulometry or the outcrop rate, the results obtained reveal a significant increase compared to the controls. By the end of the exposure, the population of pests had significantly increased. Their presence reduced the quality of the products and caused direct damage to food due to chemicals produced by the mandibular glands. Notably, larvae can lower the quality of stored products by feeding on them and releasing feces. The growth of these insects and the spread of mold on stored foods can lead to changes in the quality of grains and the production of mycotoxins that are harmful to consumers' health.