Preliminary research has demostrated that low-dose phytosanitary irradiation combined with short-term cold storage was better than either a full irradiation dose (150 Gy) or a full cold treatment (14 days at 1^∘C) because it achieved the same or greater efficacy without damage to the citrus fruit studied. The treatment was dubbed PICS to indicate the components of Phytosanitary Irradiation (PI) and cold storage (CS). In this case, cold is not a treatment but rather a condition that enhances the efficay of PI.

The PICS treatment opens exciting new avenues of investigation for phytosanitary treatments using PI. First among these new areas for treatment research is further investigation regarding the range of dose and temperature possibilities corresponding to different levels of efficacy for pests like Anastrepha spp. and Ceratitis capitata. When tied to commodity quality studies, this work also has the potential to provide numerous improvements to existing treatments for citrus and a range of other commodities that were previously impractial because of quality concerns.

Further exploring the relationship of physical treatments and conditions offers enormous potential for adding to the repertoire of tools that provide effective phytosanitary risk management without increasing the use of hazardous and environmentally dangerous chemicals or exposing sensitive fresh commodities to extreme conditions