ABSTRACT
In silage corn (Zea mays L.), Fusarium graminearum causes diseases and produces the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). The work presented here investigated DON accumulation and its fate during the ensiling of ground, whole-plant material obtained from dual-purpose (DP) and brown midrib (BMR) corn hybrids. Multi-year field trials arranged in a randomized complete block design were conducted in Wisconsin to evaluate BMR and DP corn hybrids in response to fungicide treatment. At harvest, the samples were chopped and vacuum sealed for a mini-silo time series assessment with silos opened following anaerobic fermentation for 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days. Repeated measures analysis of ensiled corn showed that hybrid (P < 0.01) and ensiling duration (P < 0.01) significantly impacted DON concentration through ensiling, while fungicide treatment had no significant effect (P > 0.05). Across hybrids and treatments, DON concentrations detected at harvest were the lowest with DON3G at harvest significantly (P < 0.01) and highly correlated (r = 0.74) with DON concentration 30-days post ensiling. These findings suggest that mycotoxin testing in corn should include not only DON but also for conjugates of DON that can be metabolized back to DON and increase the final DON concentration during ensiling.