Influence of the Use of Capsaicin on the Storage of Rice Grain

Abstract

The storage of milled rice requires monitoring to achieve the goal promoted for its consumption: preserving the quality to feed effectively. Sometimes, however, contamination infiltrates under an atmosphere favoring the formation of weevils. A futile loss is created by the unexpected degradation. The effect of capsaicin on whitened rice Sitophilus o. weevils was monitored over time based on four different factors: the presence of chilli, the initial number of weevils present or introduced into milled rice, the weight of rice processed, and the variety of rice. The number of surviving weevils has been determined for up to six months. The Kruskall-Wallis test was performed on 34 samples of five varieties of milled rice. This showed a significant effect of chilli capsaicin action regardless of the factors considered. There are varieties of rice that respond well to treatment with capsaicin. Our experimentation proved that these are the varieties forming a high number of weevils at the beginning. The action of chilli capsaicin was also verified as an insect repellent and unappetizing, especially at the initial time that allowed to see leaking insects. It does not prevent the hatching of larvae, even if it has the capacity to kill weevils. The observed facts show that capsaicin is reserved for the protection of samples of whitened milled rice still devoid of contamination of larvae or adult weevils.