Preparation of the Fruit Fly Feed - AGAR
The Mediterranean Fruit Fly Exclusion Program Kitchen staff is responsible for preparing the food agar for the Project. Four 60 gallon kettles are used in preparing the agar diet for the fruit flies seven days a week. The staff prepares eight kettles or batches of agar daily.
The formulation of the agar is:
- 40 gallons water
- 58 pounds of sugar
- 3 pounds of agar
- .04 pounds of preservative (methyl paraben)
The ingredients are brought to a boil and then the hot solution is poured into trays to cool. The agar is then cut into blocks and placed on the top of PARC - plastic aerial release container - boxes on a screen that the emerging flies can feed through.
One batch of agar will supply enough food for 230 PARC boxes of fruit flies. Eight batches of agar will supply enough food for 1,840 PARC boxes, or approximately 70 million Medflies.
