Tunisian Journal of Plant Protection 51 Vol. 11, No. 1, 2016 Determining Effect of Ethyl Formate and Vapormate® on Disinfestation Efficiency and Organoleptic Quality of Date Fruits Haithem Bessi and Cyrine Ferchichi, LR03AGR01-Laboratoire de Recherche Economie, Sciences et Technologies Agroalimentaires, INAT, Université de Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia, Sondes Yousfi, ISA-ChM, Université de Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia, Flamini Guido, Dipartimento di Farmacia, via Bonanno 33, 56126 Pisa, Italy, Manel Issaoui, LR12ES05, Laboratoire de Biochimie, Faculté de Médecine de Monastir, Université de Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia, Veronique Bikoba and Elizabeth J. Mitcham, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA, Kaouthar Grissa, LR14AGR02-Laboratoire de Recherche Bioagresseurs et Protection Intégrée en Agriculture, INAT, Université de Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia, and Sihem Bellagha, LR03AGR01-Laboratoire de Recherche Economie, Sciences et Technologies Agroalimentaires, INAT, Université de Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia __________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Bessi, H., Ferchichi, C., Yousfi, S., Guido, F., Issaoui, M., Bikoba, V., Mitcham, E.J., Grissa, K., and Bellagha, S. 2016. Determining effect of ethyl formate and Vapormate® on disinfestation efficiency and organoleptic quality of date fruits. Tunisian Journal of Plant Protection 11: 51-62. Perfectly integrated into the Tunisian economy, date sector is undergoing a great expansion in production and exports. Infestation is a major problem encountered during the dates’ postharvest period. Consequently, there is a need to maintain fruit quality during handling, packaging and storage. Currently, after the methyl bromide (MB) restriction, the industry needs an efficient and environmental-friendly alternative against insects. In this study, ethyl formate (EF) had been chosen to fumigate dates of Deglet Nour variety. Initially, trials at laboratory scale were performed with the most resistant larvae stage of the carob moth (Ectomyelois ceratoniae). For this purpose, three EF concentrations (114.4, 127.8, and 143 g/m 3 ) and two exposure durations (2 and 3 h) were tested. Results revealed that the most efficient combination was 143 g/m 3 of EF for 2 h, which caused 98.12% mortality. Then, experiments were undertaken at a semi-industry scale with Vapormate®, the commercial version of EF containing a combination of EF and CO 2 . The mortality rate was further improved, reaching 100%. However, the CO 2 synergistic effect was not demonstrated. In addition, the effects of EF and Vapormate® on the quality of fumigated fruits regarding color, sugar content and aromatic composition was assessed and discussed. No changes in fruit quality were observed after fumigation. Keywords: Carob moth, date quality, ethyl formate, fumigation, mortality rate, Vapormate® _________________________________________________________________________ Corresponding author: Sondes Yousfi, Email: sondes.yousfi@outlook.fr, Accepted for publication 7 March 2016