ALP Special Project Winner Announced and Presented at TAC

Each year the participants of the Almond Leadership Program are responsible for completing a special project, which can range from research to creating or recommending something that contributes to the betterment of the California almond industry. Every November, the participants gather at the Almond Board of California headquarters in Modesto to present to their peers, mentors, ABC staff and Board of Directors, and to vote on the best presentation to be shared at The Almond Conference.

Michelle Brasil, with Olam Farming, was voted as the winner of the special project presentation with her research on Disinfestation Efficacy of Almond Pasteurization Processes to Control Indian Meal Moth and Red Flour Beetle.

The idea behind her project came about as part of her role at Olam. In her role within the claims department, she received, investigated, and reported all claim details and findings back to the customers and processors. One summer there were reported claims for live infestation found in pasteurized product. After a few searches on the web and speaking with the Almond Board, Michelle realized there were no studies to confirm if almond pasteurization process effectively controlled these two insect species.

Michelle brought her idea to the Almond Board and was partnered with Sandipa Gautam who works at the Department of Entomology, University of California Riverside to design a research plan on a process to evaluate the disinfestation efficacies of almond pasteurization processes. Working together, Michelle and Sandipa took all insect lifecycles of the Indian Meal Moth (IMM) and the Red Flour Beetle (RFB) and tested it on the four pasteurization processes currently used in the industry today: steam under vacuum, in-line steam, propylene oxide fumigation (PPO) and phosphine fumigation. The research was conducted at two industry approved pasteurizers, H2o Express and Hughson Nut. All pretreatment setup and post treatment evaluations were done at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center with Sandipa and her team.

On day three of The Almond Conference 2021, Michelle presented her research project in front of industry members on the Almond Stage. Results from the project showed that current pasteurization methods control all life cycles of the IMM and RFB, but there is a reinfestation that occurs after. The study suggested that processors review their food safety protocols such as where and how long treated product is exposed after pasteurization and that future research can be done to identify reinfestation sources and products that may help control the pests.