Journal of Food Legumes

The pulse beetle [Callosobruchus chinensis (L)] is a major stored grain pest causing substantial loss in pulses during storage. Plant products viz., Mustard oil, Neem oil, Castor oil, Clove oil, Sesamum oil, Olive oil, Coconut oil and soybean oil were evaluated for their effects on seed damage and weight loss in green gram at different storage intervals i.e., 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after treatment. The losses caused by pulse beetle were estimated by releasing 5 pairs of adults in each jars containing 500g green gram seed. The lowest mean seed damage and weight loss were recorded in mustard oil (4ml/kg) and coconut oil (4ml/kg) i.e., 0.43, 5.56 and 0.54, 2.40 respectively, after 30 days. Similar trend was found even after 120 days i.e., 3.43, 47.57 and 1.08, 7.70 respectively. The rest of the treatments are in descending order i.e., Sesamum oil, soybean oil, olive oil, clove oil, castor oil and neem oil. However, mustard oil and coconut oil provided the best protection of green gram seed against the pulse beetle.