Insects have been proposed as an alternative protein source that may contribute to global demands for food protein. As rising interest in edible insects, it is needed to develop the rearing techniques and nutritious feed sources for mass production. Diet mixing is believed to be advantageous for performance-related factors of edible insects such as survival and growth. In the current study, the effects of diet mixtures with wheat bran, dog feed, and pig feed were investigated on the growth performance of edible chafers, Protaetia brevitarsis and Allomyrina dichotoma. When fermented sawdust with adding 30% wheat bran was fed, larval survival rate and growth rate of both insects were significantly lower than those of the control. Fermented sawdust with high density of wheat bran was inappropriate for these insects. On the other hand, when fed with 2.5% dog feed and 2.5% pig feed, the survival rate and growth rate of the larvae were higher than those of the control. In addition, the larval period of both was shorter than that of the control by 40 days or more. Therefore, it was considered that animal feeds can be used as feed sources for those edible insects.

The occurrence characteristics of major insect pests infesting organically cultivated maizes, millets, sorghums, and soybeans were surveyed from 2015 to 2017 in paddy-upland rotation and continuing upland fields. In grain fields, the main damage of maizes and sorghums was caused by Ostrinia furnaclais and Helicoverpa spp. The occurrence pattern of O. furnacalis was 3 times and that of Helicoverpa spp. was 3-4 times. In soybean fields, Riptortus clavatus was the most important, but the pest was not observed at geumhwajaerae and bongeui varieties. Interestingly, the more high the invasive rate of lepidopteran larvae was, the more low the yield of maizes and sorghums was. The surveyed results indicate that the focused management on lepidopteran larvae or hemipteran pests in maizes and sorghums or soybeans cultivated in paddy-upland rotation and continuing upland fields is an important strategy.

Azuki bean beetle (ABB), Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) is a field-to-storage pest of legumes and its female produces sex pheromone with two isomeric components, 2Z-homofarnesal and 2E-homofarnesal. Two day old virgin adults were exposed to 0, 200, 300, 400, 500 & 600 Gy gamma radiation and effect on longevity, fecundity, sterility and pheromone production were studied. Longevity (female; P < 0.001, male; P < 0.001) and fecundity (P < 0.001) were dose-dependently affected by the gamma irradiation. Both adults were totally sterilized by the tested doses of gamma irradiation as depicted by the null hatchability of laid eggs. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for solid phase micro extraction revealed that both of the pheromone components were significantly but not completely reduced by 300 Gy. It is a pre-requisite for a successful sterile insect technology that the sterility of ABB is induced without the total disruption of calling behavior.

Azuki bean beetle (ABB), Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) is a field-to-storage pest of legumes. It is ideal to estimate its field population before it invades the stored legume stuffs. The seasonal occurrence was monitored with rocket traps supplied with synthetic female sex pheromone and with sweep netting during 2015-2016. Harvest damage was evaluated by taking purposive samples of the pods at harvest. Over-wintering stage was identified from the pod samples of left over plants. The results ascertained that October was the peak season of ABB in the azuki bean field. Grain damage and weight loss of the harvested azuki bean were 2.7% and 2.4% respectively, which could be the inoculum for storage loss. The adult emergence only from live pupae collected from pods revealed for its most probable over-wintering stage. In all, this study provides insight into some field ecological parameters of ABB that could be helpful in adopting its management strategies.

Plant essential oils (EOs) exhibit an array of biological activities against insect pests. However, their negative influences on the pheromonal activity of azuki bean beetle (ABB), Callosobruchus chinensis L., the field-to-storage pest of legumes, have not received research attentions. We evaluated the effects of three EOs and their two major components on the attractiveness of male ABBS to synthetic homofarnesal (2E- : 2Z-homofarnesal = 6:4) using Y-tube olfactometry in laboratory and rocket traps in the semi-open vinyl house. The tested EOs of Illicium verum, Croton anisatum and Gaultheria fragrantissima as well as the major components, trans-anethole and methyl salicylate ascertained significant negative effect against homofarnesal both in Y-tube olfactometry and in semi-open vinyl house tracing out a new opportunity of integrating them in ABB management programs both in field and storage.

Ohmic heating is one of advanced thermal processing techniques which utilize conversion of electrical energy into heat. In our study, a feasibility of ohmic heating was tested to cook instant rice cake to improve energy efficacy as an alternative heating methods of conventional electrical kettle. Ohmic heating was conducted using customized ohmic cell (7.5×4.5×9.5 cm) equipped with titanium electrodes. Instant rice cakes in soup were ohmically heated up to 100°C at different electric fields (9, 12, 15 & 18 V/cm) and temperature holding times (60, 80, 100 & 120 s). Thermocouple was placed into both soup and rice cake to evaluate the temperature profile and energy efficacy. Temperature, voltage and current across the sample were measured and recorded at every 3 s using data acquisition system (DAQ). Mathematical model was developed to calculate the internal energy generation rate (QR, W). Internal energy generation rate (QR, W) was integrated versus temperature come-up time (s) to compute the total internal energy dose (ET, J) using MATLBA software. For energy efficacy (Eff), it was calculated ratio of total internal energy dose (ET, J) to heat quantity (Qh, J). During ohmic heating, temperature come-up time was significantly reduced as a function of elevated electric field (P<0.05). For example, 9V/cm of electric field showed 6.2±0.4 min of temperature come-up time up to 100°C. Higher electric field at 18 V/cm reduced temperature come-up time to 1.9±0.1 min. The electric field of 15 V/cm showed the best energy efficacy as 0.78 which meant 78% of electrical energy was converted into thermal energy for heating. In the texture profile analysis, the most preferable harness was found as 6.191 N at 15 V/cm and 100 s holding time. Our study showed the potential of ohmic heating to cook instant rice cakes for home meal replacement (HMR) and outdoor foods.