Deoxynivalenol in wheat and wheat products from a harvest affected by fusarium head blight

ABSTRACT

Abstract Fusarium head blight is an important disease occurring in wheat, caused mainly by the fungus Fusarium graminearum. In addition to direct damage to crops, reduced quality and yield losses, the infected grains can accumulate mycotoxins (toxic metabolites originating from prior fungal growth), especially deoxynivalenol (DON). Wheat crops harvested in 2014/2015 in southern Brazil were affected by high levels of Fusarium head blight. In this context, the aim of this study was evaluate the mycotoxicological quality of Brazilian wheat grains and wheat products (wheat flour and wheat bran for DON. DON contamination was evaluated in 1,504 wheat and wheat product samples produced in Brazil during 2014. It was determined by high performance liquid chromatograph fitted to a mass spectrometer (LC-MS / MS). The results showed that 1,000 (66.5%) out of the total samples tested were positive for DON. The mean level of sample contamination was 1047 µg.kg-1, but only 242 samples (16.1%) had contamination levels above the maximum permissible levels (MPL) - the maximum content allowed by current Brazilian regulation. As of 2017, MPL will be stricter. Thus, research should be conducted on DON contamination of wheat and wheat products, since wheat is a raw material widely used in the food industry, and DON can cause serious harm to public health.