7. Conclusions
Ozone is an effective alternative to traditional insecticides, as a
viable bio-fumigant against a range of insect pests, microorganisms
and mycotoxins. However, discrepancies regarding the
efficacy of ozone are often found in the bibliography and further
research is still needed, to clarify and develop the inferences for its
wider use, including the cost of its application. These differences
could be attributed to a great variability in the conditions of the
application, such as the feeding gas technique, the method used for
ozone generation and application, the ozone concentration, and,
above all, the exposure interval to the gas. Likewise, the environmental
conditions such as temperature, relative humidity and
surface characteristics of the materials, and the commodity and
insect species studied are important factors to be considered. In this
regard, standardization of the application conditions and techniques
and of the units to measure ozone concentration will be
useful to better understand the mode of action and the effects of
ozone not only on storage insects, micro-organisms and mycotoxins
but also on stored products