COMPARISON OF METHODS OF LIGHT FILTH RESEARCH AND HYGIENIC CONDITIONS IN THE VERIFICATION OF SPECIAL WHEAT FLOUR

Abstract

Samples of special wheat flour from five mills of Curitiba, PR were examined to evaluate the sanitary quality and to compare the acid hidrolysis method and pancreatin digestion method for light filth such as insect fragments, whole insects, insects larvae, mites and rodent hairs. The acid hidrolysis method showed to be more efficient than the pancreatin digestion method, because is less time consuming cheaper and preserve the morphological structures for further microscope investigation. The pancreatin digestion method presented 38% of the samples rejected, and the acid hidrolysis method 40%. The identification of insect fragments showed that the infestation was done mainly by insects of the complex Sitophilus, Rhizopertha dominica (F., 1792), that are characteristic of internal infestation and, in less extent, by Cryptolestes spp (characteristic which is of external infestation).