BIOINTENSIVE SAFE STORAGE METHODS FOR PULSES: REVIEW

ABSTRACT Pulses are an important source of protein in the Indian diet. Pulses are least preferred by farmers because of high risk and less remunerative than cereals; consequently, the production of the pulses is sufficiently low. To meet the demand of pulses, India is at present importing about 3 million tons. Pulse production systems including pre harvest and post harvest techniques. These techniques aremechanized in developed countries but developing countries still employ traditional techniques which incur losses of about 20–25% post-harvest losses. Drying and conditioning of pulses aremostly done by artificial methods; however, the most common drying method for pulses in the worldis open sun drying, particularly at farm level. Drying of pulses is essential because the moisturecontent at the time of harvesting is on the higher side (18–25%) and for safe storage, the optimummoisture content is in the range of 9–12% to avoid production of mycotoxins. Again storage of pulses is a challenging one since pulses are more sensitive to storage pest viz., bruchids and caneasily be attacked by them. Hence safe storage conditions like controlled atmosphere storage (CAS) must be provided for the pulses until they are being consumed. CAS offer a safe and environmentallybenign alternative to the use of conventional residue-producing chemical fumigants for controllinginsect pests that attack stored grain. Air tight containers or bins offer great protection in controllingbruchids. Hermetic storage (HS) technology has emerged as a significant alternative to other methods of storage that protect commodities from insects and molds. HS is based on the principle of generation of an oxygen-depleted, carbon dioxide-enriched interstitial atmosphere caused by therespiration of the living organisms in the ecological system of a sealed storage. Bag storage is acommon method in India. Pulses can also be stored either in metal bins, silo bags of various capacities.