Mycotoxins in cereal grain. Part 13. Deoxynivalenol and 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol in wheat kernels and chaff with head fusariosis symptoms.

In the period of harvest at 1987 field samples of wheat heads with fusariosis symptoms were collected in 18 provinces of Poland. Subsamples of heads infected with Fusarium culmorum (W.G.Sm) Sacc. and Fusarium graminearum Schwabe were analyzed for Fusarium metabolites. In fractions of kernels with visible Fusarium-damage deoxynivalenol (DON) was present in average amount of 18.7 mg/kg (range 9.6-25.3 mg/kg) and 3-acetyl DON 1.9 mg/kg. Fractions of kernels without symptoms of visible Fusarium-damage contained only DON at average 2 mg/kg (range 0.8-3.6 mg/kg). A method of approximate calculation of DON content in a given lot of grain is proposed which may be realized during samples grading.